ROCKFORD—Independent scholar Abbie Reese of Lanark crafted what she learned in eight years of rare access to the nuns at Corpus Christi Monastery to write “Dedicated to God: An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns.”

Published earlier this year by Oxford University Press, it is the first selection for The Observer Book Club’s One Diocese, One Book program.

The Observer’s One Diocese, One Book program is similar to programs around the nation. One Book
 

programs encourage readers in a geographic area — a city, a library district — to read and discuss a particular book at the same time.

In this case, Catholics in the 11 counties of the Rockford Diocese are invited to read  and discuss Reese’s book about the Poor Clares.

Existing book clubs may take part in One Diocese, One Book by discussing the book in their own meetings, then joining us and others to meet the author Oct. 18 for a book discussion and signing at CherryVale Mall in Rockford (see box, left).

Catholics in the diocese are familiar with the Poor Clare Colettine nuns who pray and live simple lives behind the walls of their monastery on Rockford’s south side.

But Reese’s work takes readers inside the walls with the nuns.

Reese’s book, according to  a press release, “is the result of her relationship- and research-based artistic practice.”

She uses methods from oral history, documentary, and ethnography to tell the sisters’ compelling story.

Her oral history and photography exhibit, “Erased from the Landscape: The Hidden Lives of Cloistered Nuns,” has been shown in galleries and museums and she has presented her work at academic conferences internationally.

Look for more about Reese and her book, including a reader’s guide to “Dedicated to God,” in upcoming editions of The Observer and at our book club blog at http://observer.rockforddiocese.org/book-club-blog.

In the meantime, mark your calendar for our Oct. 18 event. And start reading.

— Sharon Boehlefeld