Sister Wendy BEKETT and Robert ELLSBERG, Dearest Sister Wendy…A Surprising Story of Faith and Friendship. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2022. x +317 pages, pbk, $28.00. ISBN 978162698752. Reviewed by Annette M. MACKAY, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV 26505.

Robert Ellsberg and the late Sister Wendy Beckett began a relatively brief but personal and spiritual relationship during the final three years of her life. This book is a chronology of their near daily correspondence. The authors invite the reader to join them on their journey of discovery through mutual admiration of each other’s work, inspiration from the lives of saints and other holy people, discernment that comes from an active relationship with God, and strong feelings about the courage and failings of the human condition.

Sister Wendy lived as a consecrated virgin and hermit on the grounds of the Quidenham Carmelite Monastery in Norfolk, England. One does not often hear of a celebrity contemplative, but Sister Wendy was one of the few. She was the host of a BBC television show, Sister Wendy’s Odyssey, where she toured art museums and offered commentary. She saw life and God’s goodness reflected in art and was so inspired to write many books on art history from a spiritual perspective. This was how Robert Ellsberg, once an associate of Dorothy Day before her death and now editor of Orbis Books became aware of Sister Wendy. Sister Wendy, an admirer of Dorothy Day, learned of Robert through his edited works on Day and the Church, as well as his writing on the lives of the saints and daily meditative reflections. The two were well-connected with influential leaders of the Church, either in-person or by familiarity with their works. What follows in this book is an unfolding story of two people finding greater meaning in their lives through self-discovery, love, joy, frustration, grace, and surrender to the will of God.

Ellsberg divides his three-year correspondence with Sister Wendy thematically by the art of seeing, the art of loving, and the art of letting go. That is, they are practices in developing a close spiritual relationship with God and each other. These themes point to a greater understanding of our life’s purpose and the grace that God bestows in all things. A quiet comment early in the book that all things, good and bad, bring us closer to God, explains the purpose of life. Both Ellsberg and Sister Wendy attest to the disparities and injustices of life. But by faith they gain strength to draw toward God’s love rather than retreat from it. The ability to see, love, and accept is not perfection but makes us perfectly human. God does not reward goodness per se and perhaps that is why nature can be unjustly harmful. God sanctifies who we are and the experiences we endure, good, bad, or ugly. Ellsberg and Sister Wendy nurture this concept through detailed discourses on faith, obedience, sports, art, dreams, illness, family, and a variety of other topics that friends share with each other.

The words of Sister Wendy dispel any thoughts that a hermit lives a life in total solitude. She was well informed of current events, including American politics, culture (she liked Star Trek and horseracing), and the issues facing the Catholic Church and other institutions. As a contemplative, Sister Wendy was frugal with her words, engaging only the most necessary verbal conversation. Her vocation and failing health imposed more limitations on her ability to communicate with others. Yet her engagement with Ellsberg was an outlet for so many thoughts that she wanted to share. Ellsberg’s openness about his own life creates a pathway for Sister Wendy to share, mentor, teach, and learn. The easy style of their correspondence keeps the reader engaged while imparting deep theological wisdom. One steps away with a greater appreciation of the scholars of the church and the activists who strive for social justice. Readers will find comfort in this memoir of a brief but powerful intersection of two grace-filled lives.