How would the most cherished stories of
Christianity, Judaism, and
Islam be different if women were the active central figures?
Islam be different if women were the active central figures?
This ground-breaking collection of short
stories brings to life the women—daring, brave,
thoughtful, and wise—who played important and exciting
roles in the early days of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Join Esther as she stands against
injustice and her king to save her people, Aisha as she leads
hundreds of men into terrifying battle, and Mary as she and
Elizabeth dream of the new lives growing inside them. How must
Sarah have felt, turning Hagar out into the desert? And how
must Hagar have felt, traveling from the safety and security of
Abraham’s land toward an uncertain future? These stories
invite us to come to know and appreciate the struggles and
triumphs of these women—mothers, daughters, believers and
seekers.
"Recovery of the wisdom of women in
the great Abrahamic religions is long overdue. Daughters of the
Desert is a knock-out contribution to that project. Read the
stories, fill your heart, share the wealth with others. This
book deserves to become a classic of twenty-first century
spiritual reading. Cherish it."
—Mitch
Finley, author of Prayer for People Who Think Too Much and The Joy of
Being Catholic
"These engaging stories of women,
some of whom are important to all three religions, and some
known only to one, help build bridges of understanding between
religions and demonstrate the importance of religion in our
lives."
—Dr.
Freda Crane, member, Islamic
Society of North America
"How refreshing to find the stories
of Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions. They are like water
in the desert offering new voices and new hope to our
generation."
—Rabbi
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of Cain & Abel: Finding the Fruits of Peace and But God
Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land
"Some stories speak powerful
narratives. Others point to new understandings of our world.
Still others ask questions of justice, mercy, and devotion
within communities. Daughters of the Desert speaks and points
and questions in all three ways, with stories about women from
three spiritual traditions. Their ancient
journeys—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—startlingly
and wonderfully like our own, call us to and encourage us in
our own paths to God."
—Gary
Schmidt, author of Winter: The Spiritual Biography of the Season and William
Bradford: Plymouth’s Faithful Pilgrim
Claire Rudolf Murphy is the award-winning author of several books for
children and young adults, including Children of the Gold Rush
(winner of the 2000 Willa Cather Award), Gold Rush Women, and Free Radical.
Meghan Nuttall Sayres is a tapestry weaver and the author of a
children’s book, The Shape of
Betts Meadow.
Mary Cronk Farrell, formerly an award-winning television journalist,
is now a children’s author and syndicated columnist on
family spirituality.
Sarah Conover is
the author of Kindness: Buddhist
Wisdom for Children and Parents,
winner of the Skipping Stones
Multicultural Award, and is
currently writing a children’s reader on Islam.
Betsy Wharton is
a writer and nurse whose work has taken her to a Navajo Indian
reservation, an AIDS hospice, and a refugee camp on the
Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
Related Item(s)
| Code | Name | Image |
| 978-1-59473-176-1 | Triumph of Eve (PB) |
|
| 978-1-58023-372-9 | But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land |
|