GoodWGirl reviewed Hope endures by Colette Livermore
Review of 'Hope endures' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I like this book but find it was lacking a sense of hope, which was surprising since the title of the book is "hope endures." This was pretty misleading. The author seems to eventually take her negative experiences with the convent to mean there is no point in Christianity, and details a lot of her emotional struggles during the last few chapters which detracts from the positive memories and missionary work she dedicates her life to (both in and out of the Missionaries of Charity). The book consequently gives the message that it is better to try to be a good person without taking part in any particular beliefs, faith, or communities, which I find reductionist and even a little dangerous. It contrasts with the rest of the book where so much of the work/charities she and others characters dedicated herself to was motivated almost exclusively by faith and Christianity. …
I like this book but find it was lacking a sense of hope, which was surprising since the title of the book is "hope endures." This was pretty misleading. The author seems to eventually take her negative experiences with the convent to mean there is no point in Christianity, and details a lot of her emotional struggles during the last few chapters which detracts from the positive memories and missionary work she dedicates her life to (both in and out of the Missionaries of Charity). The book consequently gives the message that it is better to try to be a good person without taking part in any particular beliefs, faith, or communities, which I find reductionist and even a little dangerous. It contrasts with the rest of the book where so much of the work/charities she and others characters dedicated herself to was motivated almost exclusively by faith and Christianity. Her criticisms of some of the church's or convent's actions are very justified and well articulated, but instead of staying true to her beliefs and finding a healthier expression of them (or a better place to express them), she shrugs off her faith with a "Eh, who cares. People suffer so God probably isn't real, Jesus was just a magician, etc." Maybe it was just simplistically written but I wasn't impressed with this reasoning and wish she would have given us some more insight into the positive aspects of her life/beliefs. Reading the last few chapters felt almost like being gently dropped off a cliff and left there at the end.
All that said, the book was otherwise well written and exciting, and included a lot of specific examples of the suffering Collette saw and how she tried to make a difference. It was, as always, very entertaining and enlightening to read about some of the toxic inner workings with the Missionaries of Charity and about the amazing work they did/do in so many places throughout the world. I love memoirs that make me feel like I am living the experiences with the author, and this one provided that.
My only other criticism is that there wasn't much insight into the emotional life of the author or the other characters until the end of the book. I didn't feel like I had any sense of who she was or who her friends/family were. There was a lot of simply dictating what happened and what people said without more context.
Overall it's a good book and I recommend it, but only to people who already have a strong faith and aren't therefore likely to be hurt or mislead by the last couple chapters. If you already feel devoid of hope I think this book would probably make that seem justified and worsen your state.