THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE: My Climb out of Darkness, by Karen Armstrong. N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. 305pp. (BX4668.3 A75 A3).

One of several popular writers, whose works are frequently checked out of St. Philip's Library, is Karen Amstrong. Her recent book, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE: My Climb Out of Darkness, is a recent acquisition. The sub-title is important.

At age 17, this British writer entered the convent "to find God." She now confesses she was much too young to make such an enormous career decision. Armstrong's 1981 memoir, THROUGH THE NARROW GATE, describes her frustration and loneliness. At age 24, Karen Armstrong renounced her vows.

In the SPIRAL STAIRCASE, Armstrong tells how she climbed from the darkness of being an embittered nun, to becoming a free thinker and writer. Although it is reported that she found the move to secular life difficult, and was disappointed over not acquiring her doctorate, she became one of the world's most prominent scholars on the three Abrahamic faiths. But, she keeps a certain distance from Christian orthodoxy, recalling her pain in the convent. It is said her search is for the sacred without the reality of a personal god.

There are six titles by Armstrong in our library, including the following: THE BATTLE FOR GOD; THROUGH THE NARROW GATE; ISLAM: A Short History, and A HISTORY OF GOD: the 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW commends Armstrong as "witty, informative, and contemplative: Ms Armstrong can simplify complex ideas, but she is never simplistic."