The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself
Penguin Publishing Group · Paperback · January 5, 1988
Born in the Castilian town of Avila in 1515, Teresa entered the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation when she was twenty-one.
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- Who it’s for
- A self-written saintly life that reads as testimony, argument, and intimate presence.
- Themes
- spirituality, mysticism, religious life
- Pacing
- Reflective
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For younger readers: The Night of Las Posadas, Who Was Mother Teresa?, Mother Teresa (national Geographic Kids Readers, Level 1)
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Born in the Castilian town of Avila in 1515, Teresa entered the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation when she was twenty-one. Tormented by illness, doubts and self-recrimination, she gradually came to recognize the power of prayer and contemplation—her spiritual enlightenment was intensified by many visions and mystical experiences, including the piercing of her heart by a spear of divine love. She went on to found seventeen Carmelite monasteries throughout Spain.
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Teresa always denied her own saintliness, however, saying in a letter: "There is no suggestion of that nonsense about my supposed sanctity." This frank account is one of the great stories of a religious life and a literary masterpiece—after Don Quixote, it is Spain's most widely read prose classic. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Intimate Testimony
A self-written saintly life that reads as testimony, argument, and intimate presence.
Come here for
- Teresa’s own voice, unmediated
- A devotional classic with literary pull
Expect
- Measured, reflective prose
- Faith framed as lived experience
Where it sits
| Mysticism | 66% |
|---|---|
| Religious Lives | 64% |
| Saints & Sainthood | 57% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Religious Lives
- Spanish & Portuguese History
- Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism
- Authors
- Teresa of Avila, J. M. Cohen, Teresa de Ávila
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Published
- January 5, 1988
- Format
- Paperback
- Theme
- spirituality · mysticism · religious life
- Reading lane
- Religious Lives