Terrifying Freedom
Linda Anne Smith, 2015
Mountain Horizon Publications
500 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780994929501
Summary
Truth can be illusive, choices disconcerting; the promise of moral certitude, irresistible.
In the Midwestern offices of Secure Star Insurance, Rebecca, efficient and distant, seeks only to survive another day. Sally, earnest and devout, views the workplace as a fertile mission field.
Into the agency comes a new employee, Gladys, gregarious, unorthodox and twice divorced. When an intuitive HR manager arrives, veneers begin to crack.
Back track four years. Rebecca’s mysterious past is explored in a convent replete with younger members and garnering the support of an increasing number of bishops and conservative Catholics. When an older nun has a heart attack, Rebecca is abruptly sent to a backwater mission in Appalachia.
Distanced from the enclave of the motherhouse and embedded in social realities of the missionary outpost, Rebecca is thrust into uncharted waters.
Author Bio
Linda Smith lives near Calgary, Alberta enjoying the beauty of Rocky Mountains. For 30 years, she was a member of a community of religious sisters. She currently works in an organization that is dedicated to assisting and advocating for traumatized and neglected children and their families. (From the author.)
Visit the author's website.
Follow Linda Anne on Twitter.
Book Reviews
Book reviews can be found at terrifying freedom.com, Amazon, Indigo and Goodreads. What follows are excerpts.
"Terrifying Freedom takes you on a journey that you will not soon forget."
"Quite compelling and revealing."
"Your characters are so real and believable, and their struggles palpable."
"The story takes the reader into the secluded world of women religious who create a counterculture by living the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in community while devoting themselves to educating children. The reader admires the exemplary commitment embodied in a spectrum of characters. Smith's sympathetic depiction of these figures accounts for the poignancy of the shadows that emerge from within the best of people. The narrative illustrates how a benevolent community can become a web in which no one speaks her own mind with the result that everyone is diminished. In a perfect world, freedom is terrifying indeed….
Michael Duggan, St. Mary's University, Calgary
Discussion Questions
1. Rebecca moves through her workday efficient but distant in all her relationships. However, the other characters approach Rebecca quite uniquely. What accounts for this?
2. Rebecca, Sally and Gladys eventually form an unlikely alliance. What holds it together?
3. What is it that heightens Andrew’s intuition regarding Rebecca?
4. Sr. Rebecca Marise wholeheartedly embraces the culture and beliefs of the Sisters of Christ the Redeemer. Why is her initial acceptance unquestioning?
5. By and large, the sisters in Appalachia follow the same traditions as the Motherhouse. So why is Sr. Rebecca Marise challenged by them?
6. Is there a defining moment in Sr. Rebecca Marise’s journey in Appalachia?
7. How do you interpret the ending?
8. What would you consider to be the underlying themes of the novel?
9. Was there any particular character for whom you felt more empathy? More distaste?
10. Is there a quote or scene that holds a special significance for you?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)