Call of the Lark

Call of the Lark by Maura Mulligan is a chronicle of life in rural Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s, a testament to the challenges of emigration to the United States, and a portrait of one woman's strength and determination to forge a fulfilling life. The story begins in a New York novitiate where Maura is training to be a nun. Through the window of her memory, she invites the reader to share her childhood on a rain-swept farm in County Mayo, where women smoke clay pipes, the donkey brings turf from the bog, and children dibble the spuds and dodge a cane-wielding schoolmaster. In the bustling new world of New York City, Maura revels in the freedom of having a job and money to pursue her love of Irish dance. But even as she wins competitions, earns accolades at work and meets a nice lad, she feels the tug to do something more with her life. During her years as a nun, the author experiences a series of painful family losses at the same time she begins wrestling with questions about the role of women in the Catholic Church. She confronts her doubts, summons her courage, fixes her sights on the future, and leaves convent life.