Lieutenant Nun: The True Story of a Cross-Dressing, Transatlantic Adventurer Who Escaped From a Spanish Convent in 1599 and Lived as a Man - Softcover

De Erauso, Catalina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807070734 ISBN 13: 9780807070734

Publisher: Beacon Press, 1997

Synopsis

Named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 1996

One of the earliest known autobiographies by a woman, this is the extraordinary tale of Catalina de Erauso, who in 1599 escaped from a Basque convent dressed as a man and went on to live one of the most wildly fantastic lives of any woman in history. A soldier in the Spanish army, she traveled to Peru and Chile, became a gambler, and even mistakenly killed her own brother in a duel. During her lifetime she emerged as the adored folkloric hero of the Spanish-speaking world. This delightful translation of Catalina's own work introduces a new audience to her audacious escapades.

About this title

Review:

A rollicking, swashbuckling tale. -Los Angeles Times

"The frontier nun's rascally tale [is] a fascinating puzzle to decipher." -Angeline Goreau, The New York Times Book Review

"A mesmerizing adventure!" -Tama Janowitz

"[Catalina de Erauso] dared to steal the quest narrative from the roving men of her time and, miraculously, survived to tell the tale. An essential work for recovering the roots of women's autobiography and women's remaking of identity through encounters with otherness, not only in society but in the self." -Ruth Behar, author of The Vulnerable Observer

"The Steptos' translation, without betraying the original, turns this memoir into compelling literature in English." -Roberto González Echevarría, Sterling Professor of Hispanic and Comparative Literatures, Yale University

Synopsis:

This text presents the extraordinary story of a 17th-century cross-dresser who became a hero of the Spanish-speaking world, a darling of the Pope and a conquistador in Chile and Peru. Catalina de Erauso was born in 1585 in the Basque city of San Sebastian, and after fleeing a convent aged 15, she spent the rest of her life dressed as a man. A soldier by the age of 18, she inadvertantly killed her brother in a duel, gambled and brawled her way through the Andes, and only revealed her secret 20 years later, when she became a legend in her own time and for subsequent generations. Her memoirs shed light not only on the Spanish conquest of America, but on the life of a woman who challenged the foundations of society, while remaining committed to its service.

About this edition

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0807070734
• ISBN 13: 9780807070734
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128