Little Sister: A Memoir

Description

As seen in the New York Post !

They promised her heaven, but there was no savior.

Imagine an eighteen-year-old American girl who has never read a newspaper, watched television, or made a phone call. An eighteen-year-old-girl who has never danced—and this in the 1960s.

It is in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Leonard Feeney, a controversial (soon to be excommunicated) Catholic priest, has founded a religious community called the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Center's members—many of them educated at Harvard and Radcliffe—surrender all earthly possessions and aspects of their life, including their children, to him. Patricia Chadwick was one of those children, and Little Sister is her account of growing up in the Feeney sect [cf. the Holy See's condemnation of it in Fenton (1958)].

Separated from her parents and forbidden to speak to them, Patricia bristles against the community’s draconian rules, yearning for another life. When, at seventeen, she is banished from the Center, her home, she faces the world alone, without skills, family, or money but empowered with faith and a fierce determination to succeed on her own, which she does, rising eventually to the upper echelons of the world of finance and investing.

A tale of resilience and grace, Little Sister chronicles, in riveting prose, a surreal childhood and does so without rancor or self-pity.

Review

This is an extraordinary tale of resilience, forgiveness and--yes--love. Patricia Chadwick manages to tell the story of her unorthodox and, at times, cruel, upbringing with both an unflinching and a forgiving eye. This is an unusual combination. Ms. Chadwick does not shirk from telling the truth about the harshness of life at the Center, but she also does not withhold its moments of beauty and transcendence. We come away wishing that Ms. Chadwick had had a different childhood, but also wondering if that very childhood was what made her the person that she is today. Patricia gives us a window into the human soul and the beautiful human capacity to forgive. She knows her parents loved her. She doesn't know why they tolerated the draconian rules of the Center. And, in the end, she somehow knows how to lean on the side of love. She is both a wonderful writer and an inspiration. This book is a must-read for both its strange mid-twentieth century tale of cults in our country and for its higher spiritual lessons. I could not put it down. (Deborah Goodrich Royce, author of Finding Mrs. Ford )

From the Back Cover

THEY PROMISED HER HEAVEN, BUT THERE WAS NO SAVIOR.

"Patricia Chadwick presents a riveting story of love and perseverance surviving religious beliefs and spirituality gone astray. A fascinating story presented by the person who was the child and daughter that lived through this harrowing experience. A must read for all!"

--Ken Langone

"Patricia Chadwick's Little Sister sheds light on a part of the history of American Catholicism that has been kept in the shadows. This fascinating, often horrifying story lets us in on the secrets of a cult that separated parents from children, fostered psychological abuse, and isolated its members from the modern world...all in the name of the One True Church."

--Mary Gordon

About the Author

Patricia Walsh Chadwick was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1948. She received her BA in Economics from Boston University and had a thirty-year career in the investment business, culminating as a Global Partner at Invesco. Today she sits on a number of corporate boards, and she blogs on issues social, economic and political. She also mentors middle school girls at Our Lady Queen of Angels School in Harlem. In 2016, she founded and is the CEO of Anchor Health Initiative, a health care company that serves the needs of the LGBTQ community in Connecticut. She is married and lives in Connecticut with her husband. They have a daughter and a son.