Catholic Girlhood Narratives

In this pioneering study of thirty-three girlhood memoirs and autobiographies by twentieth-century Roman Catholic women from six countries, Elizabeth N. Evasdaughter argues that the narratives are linked by a remembered conflict with the repressive gender training of the institutional church. By examining the writings of women such as Sarah Bernhardt, Colette, Rosa Chacel, Simone de Beauvoir, and Mary McCarthy, the author offers insights in the shared girlhood experiences of Catholic women as a group and illuminates the ways in which the girls' choices, behavior, and development were deeply affected by the Church's concept of the ideal Catholic woman.