A Change of Habit: Leaving Behind My Husband, Career, and Everything I Owned to Become a Nun

Clare debuts with a poignant and good-humored account of her path toward nunhood. Growing up in Georgia with an abusive father, Clare found sanctuary in the home of her devout Baptist grandparents. As a young adult, she leaned into her love of theater and writing in Los Angeles, and eventually carved out a career in advertising. After marrying a cold man who was an intellectual match but a likely sex addict, however, Clare reignited her childhood obsession with monastic life. Drawn initially to accounts from Roman Catholic nuns, she struggled to square the demands of such a life with her pro–abortion rights and pro-gay beliefs. In the Episcopal church, she found a balance between ritual and progressive politics. After leaving her husband, clearing her debts, and passing a psych test, Clare became a postulant with the Community of St. John the Baptist in New Jersey. Though Clare’s story offers a fascinating glimpse into a unique corner of religious life, her own spirituality often remains just off the page. When it comes through, the prose sparkles (“The blueness of Mary was so beautiful and comforting,” she writes, describing a prayer-induced vision). This tender autobiography offers encouragement for any reader who’s struggled to find their place in the world. Agent: Albert Lee, UTA. (Apr.)