How does Susan react in the face of another woman's demand to share her husband. The answer will certainly surprise you.
Sister Susan walks away from her religious vocation to marry the former convent chaplain. But her life as a priest's wife is not all she had dreamed it would be. Struck by a series of cruel blows, she becomes convinced that God is exacting a price for her reneging on her vows. It is this belief that leads her to make an astounding sacrifice that few women in her situation would ever contemplate or even believe possible.
Excerpt
I’d never mentioned Finbarr to my sister. She knew nothing of his existence, which explained her constant going on about the need for me to get out and meet people. I wasn’t going to be able to keep it from her much longer.
“You don’t think I’m enjoying myself as it is?”
“Get out to a few dances. Meet a nice fella. You know what I’m talking about.”
“Bossy!”
“I don’t want to see you turning into an old maid, Sue. There’s more to life than work.”
I braced myself to tell her. Like a nervous penitent before confession. She’d want to know every detail, who he was, what he did, the breed and seed of him. There was no way in the world I was going to be able to hide the fact he was a priest.
“I’ll be seeing Finbarr at the weekend.”
“Finbarr?” A look of surprise mingled with curiosity. “I never heard you mention any Finbarr. Fill me in, Sue, I want to hear more.” She leant forward across the table, all eager.
“I’m going out with this guy.”
“Well you’re the smooth operator if ever there was. So go on, tell me all about him. Is it serious?”
“We’ve been seeing each other for the past few months.”
“And you never said a word! Keep going, I’m dying to hear. Give me the whole works. What’s the big secret? You don’t have to hide anything from your little sister, you know. Haven’t I been saying all along you need a man in your life? What does he do anyway?”
“He’s sort of ...”
“Sort of what?”
“He’s sort of a priest.”
I watched the colour drain from her cheeks.
“What do you mean, sort of a priest? There’s no such thing as sort of a priest.”
“He doesn’t practise as a priest any more. He works as a hospital chaplain. It’s not important. He’s just such a nice guy. I’d love you to meet him.”
“You must be out of your mind. God knows the world is full of men. Surely to God you didn’t have to go and get yourself involved with a priest?”
I reached across the table to press her hand but she pulled away.
“Listen here to me, Josie. It’s alright. I love him. We love each other. What does it matter whether he’s a priest or not? I know I’ve found the right man. Don’t ask me to turn my back on him now. Please. I’ve never been so happy. You’ve no idea what it means for me. I’m telling you, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my whole life.”
“I only wish you could hear yourself. We were brought up to have some respect for religion. Think of Mam lying in the cold clay. She prayed all her life her children would turn out right. How could you do this to her now? As for Dad, it’ll break his heart. Kill him altogether.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thought of all that. I lie awake at night thinking about it. The last thing in the world I want to do is hurt anyone. But it’s my life, Josie. My life.”
She rummaged in her bag for a tissue. “It’s the shame of it, Susan,” she sobbed. “We’ll never be able to hold our heads up again.”
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