In this biography the reader will follow Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu from her humble Albanian birth to worldwide celebrity as Mother Teresa. The nun who attended to the dying and diseased in Calcutta, India, and established her Missionaries of Charity around the world is revealed to have a singular determination from a young age. As a woman in the patriarchal Catholic system, she had to prove to the hierarchy, even the Vatican, that she was capable of handling each project she proposed. Her vision to live and work among the 'poorest of the poor' as one of them led to the founding of a new order that tended to society's outcasts. The narrative chronicles the expansion and success of the order and the eventual attention that was showered on her efforts.
Despite her ealy death at the age of 39 Flannery O'Connor has left a remarkable literary legacy. This biography is a overview of O'Connor's life and achievements. Included are chapters on her youth and early literary career, the decline of her health and her return to her hometown, her maturation as an author, her identity as a Southern writer, and her final years. The volume also provides a timeline and closes with a bibliography of books, articles, and electronic sources for research.