As a child Edith Stein had an intimation that she would be great. Her professor, the world renowned Edmund Husserl, realized that 'in her everything is absoultely true.' It is this passion for truth that marks the whole trajectory of her life and accounts for both her intense dedication to the pursuit of knowledge and the evolution of her spiritual life from a love of science to prayer, to the cloister and finally the witness that brought her to Auschwitz. In her case the monstrous tragedy of the Holocaust had a different kind of solution: 'the wood of the cross has become the light of Christ.'

In this lucidly written book, Pat Lyne provides us with an engaging portrait of a saint with whom we feel she has such affinity. It is important to meet the woman who became a philosopher and eventually a saint before grappling with her thought and this book will prove to be the perfect introduction. Includes 26 black and white photos.

Read the review in AD2000 here.