The company of women

Mary Gordon's extraordinary novel about a young Catholic woman who pursues father figures--only to wrestle to break free of them Felicitas Maria Taylor was brought up in a cocoon, raised by five devoutly religious women. The death of her father while she was still a baby has caused her to seek out the extreme in men, and that is what she finds in Father Cyprian, a priest whom Felicitas visits during summers in upstate New York. The charismatic Cyprian fosters the young girl's gifts and intelligence, but, no lover of worldly things, he demands a severe loyalty. When Felicitas comes of age and begins her studies at Columbia, everything seems poised to change. At the university, she falls under the spell of another domineering man--a professor surrounded by young activist acolytes--and this time, the stakes couldn't be higher. The Company of Women is a story of dangerous attachments and challenged faith--and of finding an endurable future.… (more)