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The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women by Laura Swan
pagesofpins's review against another edition
3.0
I'm down for any nonfiction where names like "Susanna Blessed Hermit" and "John the Dwarf" are bandied about like they're the family next door. The biographies, prayers/liturgy and timeline of these desert women were interesting, but the commentary was textbook-y and basic.
Discussions of male-centric language of the day were noteworthy. Also interesting that the virtuous desert fathers were frequently tempted by harlots and overcame the lust of their bodies, whereas the virtuous desert mothers were frequently falsely accused of fathering children while disguised as men, which they mostly took the punishment for, falsely admitted to, and raised the resulting offspring.
Discussions of male-centric language of the day were noteworthy. Also interesting that the virtuous desert fathers were frequently tempted by harlots and overcame the lust of their bodies, whereas the virtuous desert mothers were frequently falsely accused of fathering children while disguised as men, which they mostly took the punishment for, falsely admitted to, and raised the resulting offspring.
jennderqueer's review against another edition
4.0
Good historical information about early ascetic women in the Christian church. Couple of chapters are just lists of women with a little bit of information (think Lives of the Saints style) and finishes up with the author's personal thoughts on how the topic affects her own life and spirituality. I read it for the history, but the whole book was pretty good.
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