Karen Armstrong speaks to the troubling years following her decision to leave the life of a Roman Catholic nun and join the secular world in 1969. What makes this memoir especially fascinating is that Armstrong already wrote about this era once---only it was a disastrous book. It was too soon for her to understand how these dark, struggling years influenced her spiritual development, and she was too immature to protect herself from being be bullied by the publishing world. As a result, she agreed to portray herself only in as "positive and lively a light as possible"---a mandate that gave her permission to deny the truth of her pain and falsify her inner experience. The inspiration for this new approach comes from T. S. Eliot's Ash Wednesday, a series of six poems that speak to the process of spiritual recovery. Eliot metaphorically climbs a spiral staircase in these poems---turning again and again to what he does not want to see as he slowly makes progress toward the light. In revisiting her spiral climb out of her dark night of the soul, Armstrong gives readers a stunningly poignant account about the nature of spiritual growth. Upon leaving the convent, Armstrong grapples with the grief of her abandoned path and the uncertainty of her place in the world. On top of this angst, Armstrong spent years suffering from undiagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy, causing her to have frequent blackout lapses in memory and disturbing hallucinations---crippling symptoms that her psychiatrist adamantly attributed to Armstrong's denial of her femininity and sexuality. The details of this narrative may be specific to Armstrong's life, but the meanin! g she makes of her spiral ascent makes this a universally relevant story. All readers can glean inspiration from her insights into the nature of surrender and the possibilities of finding solace in the absence of hope. Armstrong shows us why spiritual wisdom is often a seasoned gift---no matter how much we strive for understanding, we can't force profound insights to occur simply because our publisher is waiting for them. With her elegant, humble and brave voice, she inspires readers to willingly turn our attention toward our false identities and vigilantly defended beliefs in order to better see the truth and vulnerability of our existence. Herein lies the staircase we can climb to enlightenment. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly
In 1962, British writer Armstrong (The Battle for God, etc.) entered a Roman Catholic convent, smitten by the desire to "find God." She was 17 years old at the time—too young, she recognizes now, to have made such a momentous decision. Armstrong’s 1981 memoir Through the Narrow Gate described her frustrating, lonely experience of cloistered life and her decision, at 24, to renounce her vows. In its sequel, Beginning the World (1983), she tried to explain her readjustment to the secular world—and failed. "It is the worst book I have ever written," she declares in the preface to this new volume: "it was far too soon to write about those years"; "it was not a truthful account"; "I was told to present myself in as positive and lively a light as possible." The true story, which she relates in this second sequel, was far more conflicted and intellectually vibrant. Her departure from the convent, she writes, actually made her quite sad; she was "constantly wracked by a very great regret" and suffering on top of it with the symptoms of undiagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy. How she emerged from such darkness to make a career as a writer whose books honor spiritual concerns while maintaining intellectual freedom and rigor—this is Armstrong’s real concern, and the one that will be of most interest to the fans of her many acclaimed works. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This fascinating narrative is the story of Armstrong's personal spiritual quest, which led her at age 17 to join a convent. However, she found that her own skeptical nature and the physical constraints of convent life crippled her intellectually and spiritually. An undiagnosed form of epilepsy, which caused delusions and disorientation, further complicated her adjustment and was dismissed by the nuns as teenage melodrama. After seven years, Armstrong left the convent. The account of her difficult reentry into the "world" is heart wrenching, from her failure to pass her academic exams to the loss of her teaching post to the discomfort of television appearances. Slowly, with the help of a doctor who was able to diagnose and treat her epilepsy and good friends who supported her choices, the author began an academic journey that resulted not only in intellectual fulfillment, but spiritual commitment as well. Along the way, as Armstrong questions her own Catholicism, she delves deeply into other religions and achieves a greater appreciation not only of Christianity but also of Judaism and Islam. Introspective readers who have felt themselves to be outsiders and those who have questioned the values they have been taught will empathize with the author's struggle. Students interested in comparative religion will learn a great deal from her clear, objective descriptions, and her quest to find meaning in religion will inspire lively discussion.–Jackie Gropman, Chantilly Regional Library, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
This account of Karen Armstrong's spiritual and psychological journey is so detailed, and winds down so many different passages, that it's hard to imagine anyone besides the author reading it successfully. Only she knows precisely how the different stages in her life affected her, and honestly, this may be a better work for the ear than the eye. Armstrong's delivery is habitually reserved, portraying the emotional reserve trained into her when she was a nun, but passion and humor repeatedly break through. When Armstrong has a story to tell, she performs it with glee, mimicking voices and nearly bellowing. The result is quite accessible. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Only a remarkable life course could transform a devout nun into a sophisticated iconoclast. Armstrong here recounts precisely such a journey with an unflinching honesty that exposes unanticipated ironies in her personal metamorphosis. Thus the embittered nun who repudiated religion when she abandoned the convent now wryly contemplates her professional status as a writer passionately attracted to religion and personally devoted to a regimen of silent reflection strikingly similar to that of religious orders. To be sure, Armstrong maintains her distance from Christian orthodoxy and still recalls her convent years as deeply painful. But taking her title metaphor from poet T. S. Eliot, Armstrong views all of the wrenching reversals of her life--including not only the spiritual trauma of renouncing religious vows but also the psychological distress of dealing with misdiagnosed epilepsy and the academic disappointment of failing to win her doctorate--as parts of a coherent pattern of gradual enlightenment. Though that enlightenment has left Armstrong far from orthodoxy, it has awakened in her a new appreciation for the moral teachings of Jesus and--much to her surprise--even a profound sympathy for St. Paul. This enlightenment has also led Armstrong to explore the spiritual riches of Islam and Buddhism, so deepening her awareness of interfaith parallels. Even among readers who embrace doctrines Armstrong dismisses (such as the reality of a personal God), this candid memoir will clarify thinking about the search for the sacred. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“Enjoyable and deeply interesting. . . . Very rewarding.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“A story about becoming human, being recognized, finally recognizing oneself. . . . It fills the reader with hope.” –The Washington Post Book World

“Riveting. . . . It’s a pleasure to read simply because it’s honest and hopeful. . . . Armstrong is such an evocative writer.” –Newsday

“I loved this powerful and moving account, and read it nonstop.” –Elaine Pagels, author of Beyond Belief

“In . . . Armstrong’s memoir there lurks wisdom about the making and remaking of a life . . . from which all of us could learn.” –The New York Times Book Review

“A powerful memoir. . . . Buoyed by keen intelligence and unflinching self-awareness and honesty. . . . Armstrong is an engaging, energetic writer.” –The Christian Science Monitor

“A minor masterpiece.” –Elle

“Exceptionally impressive. . . . Karen Armstrong’s account of her spiralling journey provokes thought and inspires respect.” –Daily Telegraph

“The story of the making of a writer. . . . It manages to dramatize the writer’s process of intellectual development and to find in it genuine interest, and, indeed, suspense. . . . As an account of the intellectual journey of an intelligent and unique individual, the book is often gripping.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“Candid and compelling, and the sentences are flawless.” –The Dallas Morning News

“Unputdownable–absorbing, moving.” –Daily Mail

“Remarkable. . . . Unflinching. . . . This candid memoir will clarify thinking about the search for the sacred.” –Booklist

“Gripping. . . . Uplifting. . . . Utterly compelling.” –The Edmonton Journal

“Armstrong writes with sensitivity and wisdom. . . . She employs a breadth of learning that reflects the scintillating, shifting light and shade of human experience.” –The Times (London)

“Absorbing. . . . Profoundly inspiring and engaging.” –Tallahassee Democrat

“An honest and affecting book.” –The Independent

“The Spiral Staircase . . . is great. Armstrong is a marvelous writer and her subject matter is meaty. Her subject is the meaning of life.” –Deseret Morning News

“Open and accessible, Armstrong manages to put into words something that most of us cannot express.” –New Statesman

“Moving, insightful. . . . Compulsively readable.” –Library Journal

“A subtle and funny memoir.” –Sunday Telegraph

Review
Praise for Karen Armstrong
?Karen Armstrong is a genius.? -- A. N. Wilson, author of Paul: The Mind of the Apostle

?Armstrong can simplify complex ideas, but she is never simplistic.? -- The New York Times Book Review

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Karen Armstrong begins this spellbinding story of her spiritual journey with her departure in 1969 from the Roman Catholic convent she had entered seven years before — hoping, but ultimately failing, to find God. She knew almost nothing of the changed world to which she was returning, and she was tormented by panic attacks and inexplicable seizures.

Armstrong's struggle against despair was further fueled by a string of discouragements — failed spirituality, doctorate, and jobs; fruitless dealings with psychiatrists. Finally, in 1976, she was diagnosed with epilepsy, given proper treatment, and released from her "private hell." She then began the writing career that would become her true calling, and as she focused on the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, her own inner story began to emerge. Without realizing it, she had embarked on a spiritual quest, and through it she would eventually experience moments of transcendence — the profound fulfillment that she had not found in long hours of prayer as a young nun.

Powerfully engaging, often heartbreaking, but lit with bursts of humor, The Spiral Staircase is an extraordinary history of self.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

It is a courageous thing to tell a life story in which you sometimes look unglued, and even more so to rewrite a memoir you've already published. What has changed between Armstrong's first stab at narrating these years, and this new account, is the governing metaphor. She no longer imagines that in leaving the convent she was boldly, cleanly ''beginning the world,'' but rather tracing circles upward on a spiral staircase, an image she takes from Eliot's ''Ash Wednesday,'' which begins, ''Because I do not hope to turn again / Because I do not hope / Because I do not hope to turn.'' It is a fitting epigraph for this book. Eliot's poem, Armstrong explains, proceeds with ''the twisting sentences of the verse, which often revolves upon itself, repeating the same words and phrases, apparently making little headway, but pushing steadily forward nevertheless.'' In both Eliot's poem and Armstrong's memoir there lurks wisdom about the making and remaking of a life, the retracing of steps and the relentless pushing forward, from which all of us could learn. — Lauren F. Winner

The Washington Post

The Spiral Staircase at once combines memoir, theology, philosophy. It's a story about becoming human, being recognized, finally recognizing oneself. And it's written with self-respect but not egomania, compassion that never turns into self-pity. More than anything, it fills the reader with hope -- not the sappy, uplifting kind but the sort that comes from the very best fairy tales. — Carolyn See

Library Journal

In 1962, at the age of 17, Armstrong decided to devote her life to the Catholic Church, entering the convent during a time of great change (pre-Vatican II). The nine months she spent as a postulant were "the old regime at its best." She was allowed to enter Oxford University and found great stimulation in the study of English literature and her preparation to be a teacher. Eventually she applied the critical-analytical skills she was learning to her life as a novice. Finding her vocation as a "natural student," she asked to be allowed to leave the convent. Twelve years later, Armstrong felt the need to write about her depression, her anxiety, and her inexplicable seizures. After having built a life and giving herself some distance from her earlier experiences, she is able to look at her younger self with great tenderness, humor, and objectivity. A lovely rite of passage, this program is recommended for all public and academic libraries with large audio and spiritual collections. Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-This fascinating narrative is the story of Armstrong's personal spiritual quest, which led her at age 17 to join a convent. However, she found that her own skeptical nature and the physical constraints of convent life crippled her intellectually and spiritually. An undiagnosed form of epilepsy, which caused delusions and disorientation, further complicated her adjustment and was dismissed by the nuns as teenage melodrama. After seven years, Armstrong left the convent. The account of her difficult reentry into the "world" is heart wrenching, from her failure to pass her academic exams to the loss of her teaching post to the discomfort of television appearances. Slowly, with the help of a doctor who was able to diagnose and treat her epilepsy and good friends who supported her choices, the author began an academic journey that resulted not only in intellectual fulfillment, but spiritual commitment as well. Along the way, as Armstrong questions her own Catholicism, she delves deeply into other religions and achieves a greater appreciation not only of Christianity but also of Judaism and Islam. Introspective readers who have felt themselves to be outsiders and those who have questioned the values they have been taught will empathize with the author's struggle. Students interested in comparative religion will learn a great deal from her clear, objective descriptions, and her quest to find meaning in religion will inspire lively discussion.-Jackie Gropman, Chantilly Regional Library, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

AudioFile