Margaret Wolff
ISBN 9780787983383 (0787983381)
Jossey-Bass, 2006 (272pp)
£12.99

Category: Spirituality
Subcategory: Women's Studies

This book is the result of one woman's interest in what makes 'extraordinary' women tick - especially when it comes to their spirituality. For Wolff, these extraordinary women are people such as Alma Flor Ada, children's author, Rabbi Laura Geller, actress Olympia Dukakis and Grandmother Twylah Hurd Nitsch, Native American teacher. Perhaps these women are better known on the other side of the Atlantic - I have to confess to only having heard of one of them, namely Sister Helen Prejean, the nun played by Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking.

Wolff simply meets with each person at a time, records their conversation, then writes it up into a chapter with her own narration and reflections. The format is the same for each chapter, as are the questions (more or less) which include questions about their lives and careers, and then, how would you define spirituality, have you ever had a dark night of the soul, and how would you like to be remembered after your death?

Keeping an open mind is essential when reading this book - with 13 women come 13 different expressions of spirituality. One is clearly Christian, the others can described as semi/loosely/quasi/barely Christian. Some are based in Judaism, some in native American spiritualism, others in humanism. If you think that there is one expression of spirituality alone, this book is not for you.

What is refreshing about this book is that it's not trying to make a point or to pretend to be something it's not. It is exactly as its subtitle suggests - conversations with women. It stands on its own as the result of one woman's intrigue into the lives of others.

Although it is in some ways refreshing to find a non-judgmental interviewer whose aim is not to 'catch out' their interviewee or belittle them, I found it slightly frustrating that there is very little analysis of what each woman says and even less critical thought follows the statements they make.

Wolff seems to 'swallow' everything that each woman pronounces, despite the fact that they may have utterly contradicted the previous person. You are left with the impression that she values each of her subjects equally - which I perhaps wish I could have done without wishing to pick holes in their differing ideas. This led me to think how this book would have been more stimulating had it been 'debates between extraordinary women' which would perhaps have offered more meaty discussion for those of us who feel the need. For those who don't - this book should be more attractive but for me In Sweet Company was just a touch too sugary.

Caroline Wenger, October 2007

Having tried the Alpine life for more than a year, Caroline Wenger is soon to be coming down the mountain to live in a town not far from Zürich. She enjoys reading (albeit slowly), cooking and travelling and finds it sometimes hard to stay awake in sleepy Switzerland.

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