An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life

Mary Johnson

Spiegel & Grau, 2011 - Biography & Autobiography - 526 pages

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS

An unforgettable spiritual autobiography about a search for meaning that begins alongside one of the great religious icons of our time and ends with a return to the secular world

At seventeen, Mary Johnson saw Mother Teresa's face on the cover of Time and experienced her calling. Eighteen months later, she entered a convent in the South Bronx to begin her religious training. Not without difficulty, this bright, independent-minded Texas teenager eventually adapted to the sisters' austere life of poverty and devotion, and in time became close to Mother Teresa herself.

Still, beneath the white and blue sari beat the heart of an ordinary young woman facing the struggles we all share—the desire for love and connection, meaning and identity. During her twenty years with the Missionaries of Charity, Sister Donata, as she was known, grappled with her faith, her sexuality, the politics of the order, and her complicated relationship with Mother Teresa. Eventually, she left the church to find her own path—one that led to love and herself.

Provocative, profound, and emotionally charged, An Unquenchable Thirst presents a rare, privileged view of Mother Teresa. At the same time, it is a unique and magnificent memoir of self-discovery.

Contents

• Section 1: 3
• Section 2: 15
• Section 3: 28
• Section 4: 54
• Section 5: 68
• Section 6: 81
• Section 7: 87
• Section 8: 100
• Section 9: 111
• Section 10: 130
• Section 11: 146
• Section 12: 160
• Section 13: 170
• Section 14: 191
• Section 15: 208
• Section 16: 225
• Section 17: 248
• Section 18: 271
• Section 19: 283
• Section 20: 311
• Section 21: 331
• Section 22: 339
• Section 23: 350
• Section 24: 359
• Section 25: 376
• Section 26: 394
• Section 27: 416
• Section 28: 434
• Section 29: 452
• Section 30: 456
• Section 31: 466
• Section 32: 480
• Section 33: 494
• Section 34: 527

About the author

For twenty years, as Sister Donata, Mary Johnson was a Missionary of Charity, a nun in Mother Teresa's order, until she left in 1997. A respected teacher and public speaker, she has been named a Fellow of the MacDowell Colony and is on the board of A Room of Her Own Foundation. She lives in New Hampshire.

Bibliographic information

• Title: An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life
• Author: Mary Johnson
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau, 2011
• ISBN: 0385527470, 9780385527477
• Length: 526 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs; Biography & Autobiography / Religious; Religion / Christian Ministry / Missions; Religion / Institutions & Organizations; Religion / Spirituality