Teresa of Avila - by Mirabai Starr & Teresa of Avila (Paperback)

About the Book

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), the Spanish Carmelite nun and mystic, is one of the most beloved figures of the Catholic faith. Her spiritual autobiography, which she called "The Book of My Life," was written at the height of her influence and at the direction of the infamous Spanish Inquisition, to spell out her teaching for them.

Book Synopsis

A "pure genius" translation of the beloved autobiographical writings of the great 16th-century Spanish mystic, Saint Teresa of Ávila (Caroline Myss, New York Times-bestselling author)

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) is one of the most beloved of the Catholic saints. In 1562, during the era of the Spanish Inquisition, Teresa sat down to write an account of the mystical experiences for which she had become famous. The result was this book, one of the great classics of spiritual autobiography.

With this fresh translation of The Book of My Life, Mirabai Starr brings the inimitable Spanish mystic to life for a new generation. In contemporary English that mirrors Teresa's own earthy, vernacular Spanish, and that presents us with--four centuries after Teresa's death--someone we feel we know, Mirabai Starr offers a stunning portrait of a woman who is intoxicated by God yet filled with an overflowing love for the world.

Review Quotes

"A cause for celebration. Captures Teresa's conversational enthusiasm most effectively."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Crisp, contemporary language puts Teresa's famous passion for God in stark relief."--Publishers Weekly

"Mirabai Starr's translation is a work for our time. She has given Teresa a presence and a voice in a modern era. Saint Teresa no doubt chose Mirabai, for her talent with language and Spanish translation is pure genius."--Caroline Myss, author of Entering the Castle and Anatomy of the Spirit

"Mirabai Starr's translation makes totally accessible this most famous (and attractive) saint. The writing has such a delightful sparkle you can't help falling in love with Teresa."--John Nichols, author of The Milagro Beanfield War

"Saint Teresa of Ávila has long deserved a far wider readership than existing translations have secured for her. She wrote, as she undoubtedly spoke, in an unapologetically vernacular Spanish--idiomatic, vivid, and informal--and Mirabai Starr's rendering is all of that. The clarity and vitality of this new autobiography will bring a whole new generation of seekers into the blessed presence of 'La Madre.'"--Carol Lee Flinders, author of Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics and Enduring Lives: Portraits of Women and Faith in Action

"Saints' lives are not always page-turners. But Mirabai Starr´s wonderfully fresh translation of the Vida of Teresa of Ávila captures the passionate spirituality, the talent for intimacy, the frankly fallible humanity that attracted her contemporaries to the woman Starr describes, in her introduction, as 'not an obvious saint.' Tessa Bielecki´s deeply-felt foreword is one inducement among many to take this welcome new translation to heart."--Cathleen Medwick, author of Teresa of Ávila The Progress of a Soul

About the Author

Mirabai Starr is an adjunct professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of New Mexico. She has studied a wide variety of religious traditions, including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Christianity. She is also the translator of Teresa of Ávila's Interior Castle and The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross. She lives in Taos, New Mexico.