Convent Wisdom How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life

by Garriga, Ana; Urbita, Carmen

• ISBN13: 9781668065518
• ISBN10: 1668065517
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781668065532
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-11-04
• Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster

Summary

"Delightful." —The Guardian • "Cheeky." —The New York Times • "Insightful." —Marie Claire • A not-so-saintly self-help book that dives into the wild, wise, and unconventional lives of 16th- and 17th-century nuns and proves one thing: No matter the century, nuns know best.

When most of us think of nuns, we picture hands clasped in prayer, solemn shuffles down cloistered halls, and that iconic habit silhouette. But what about the nuns who ate spiderwebs, erupted into jealous fights over makeup, or chain-produced manuscripts for extra cash? In reality, these women were no one-dimensional martyrs. 16th- and 17th-century nuns were resourceful, rebellious, and refreshingly relatable—and their lives hold surprising lessons for us today.

Convent Wisdom is your guide to navigating everything from patriarchal bureaucracy to an all-consuming friend crush with help from history’s most fascinating nuns. Struggling with money? Saint Teresa and her fellow Carmelites have recession-proof advice. Scrolling social media and drowning in FOMO? Mary of Jesus of Ágreda’s miraculous ability to engage in bilocation might help you cope. Confounded by a lesbian situationship? The yearnings of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz contain unexpected insights.

Blending rigorous research with tongue-in-cheek takeaways and weaving pop culture and personal anecdotes throughout, Brown University scholars and best friends Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita spill the juicy inside scoop on monastic life so you can better conquer today’s anxiety-ridden, hyper-connected world. Be it work woes, unholy diets, or crises of the soul, the nuns of Convent Wisdom are here to guide you—with a wink and a prayer.

Author Biography

Ana Garriga is a scholar of early modern Spain and Latin America. She earned her PhD from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in 2017 with a dissertation on Teresa of Ávila’s letters, for which she received the extraordinary PhD award. In 2014, she earned a prestigious Fulbright scholarship which allowed her to spend a semester at UC Berkeley as a visiting scholar. She joined the graduate program of Hispanic Studies at Brown University in 2016 supported by a Presidential Fellowship. She has published extensively in academic journals (Revista Hispánica Moderna, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies) and presented at conferences such as the Renaissance Society of America, American Comparative Literature Association, and others. While she was deciding where to attend graduate school, she met Carmen Urbita, with whom she launched the podcast Las hijas de Felipe in 2020. 

Carmen Urbita earned her PhD from Brown University in 2025. Prior to joining the Department of Hispanic Studies at Brown, she completed her BA in comparative literature at King’s College London (University of London) and was granted a scholarship to pursue a Master of Studies in modern languages at the University of Oxford, where she was awarded with Distinction after completing her dissertation on autobiography and demonology in the writings of the French Ursuline nun Jeanne des Anges (1602–1665). She has presented at conferences such as the Renaissance Society of America and has published in academic journals such as Romanic Review. In 2016, she met Ana Garriga, and four years later, they launched the podcast Las hijas de Felipe. 

With over sixty episodes published, Las hijas de Felipe has established itself as one of the most popular podcasts in the Spanish-speaking world. They have collaborated with prestigious institutions, including the Petit Palais in Paris, the Pedro de Osma Museum in Lima, the Bode Museum in Berlin, and the Prado Museum in Madrid.