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.
"If there was any doubt that Mary Gordon was her generation's preeminent novelist of Roman Catholic mores and manners . . . it is dispelled by [The Company of Women]."
The New York Times
"A darkly explorative tale, shot through with warming recognitions, about racking spiritual journeys within transitional Roman Catholicism."
