The Catholic Woman by Jeanne Pieper

Title: The Catholic Woman: Difficult Choices in a Modern World

Author: Jeanne Pieper

First Published: 1993

No. of Pages: 225

Synopsis (from B&N): "Through interviews with Catholic women from all walks of life and by sharing her own experience, Pieper explores both the surprising and the expected answers to many questions which have come to light as Catholic women speak out about their religion, their families, and their God."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I've tried very hard to think of something positive to say about this book. About the best I can say is that the author was well-intentioned. First, the author acknowledges that her research was anecdotal and unscientific. This wouldn't be a problem except that the reader is left wondering whether the problems identified by the people interviewed are real problems or just the opinion of a few. Given that there are millions of women that consider themselves Catholic, any book that purports to speak for your average Catholic woman should use scientific research methods to insure its validity.

The author also gives a brief overview of her history with the Church, but this is insufficient to overcome her obvious bias. It's clear throughout that the author identifies with the liberal viewpoint, which she is certainly entitled to do, but she should not then present the book as an overview of the beliefs and feelings of your average Catholic woman without greater objectivity.

Finally, the lack of objectivity weakens many of the problems identified by the interviewees. The reader is given the general impression that the author's goal is advocacy, but many of her subjects' quotes on which she relies are illogical, inaccurate, or simply miss the point. The author then makes little or no attempt to bolster her case, so that the reader is left with ineffective and sometimes contradictory arguments.

I hate to wind up a review with so much negativity, but I found this book to be frustrating and a chore to finish. I'm sure many of the women interviewed have a deep faith, but I can only feel that this author did them a disservice in the way in which that faith was presented.

Challenges: 999 ("Catholicism"); Support Your Local Library