A Kind of Mercy (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798899901980)

In her chapbook, A Kind of Mercy, Sharon A Foley portrays her twenty-nine years lived as a nun within the religious order of the Sisters of Mercy. She's attracted to the order by her high school guidance counselor, a nun, who seems vibrant and fulfilled. Ms. Foley captures the intricacies of living with thirty-seven other postulants: chanting the psalms, playing softball, doing laundry, taking part in a Christmas Pageant. Throughout the book, Ms. Foley speaks of her private thoughts: doubts, desires, jealousies, admirations, and "stifled anger" as she navigates this calling. While she enjoys comradery with some nuns, she experiences conflicts and differences with others. Eventually she experiences a "gouging loneliness" that prompts her to leave this convent life. Through poems carefully crafted, Ms. Foley allows her reader to laugh and cry with her on every step of her journey.