Little Sister

A Memoir

By: Patricia Walsh Chadwick

Narrated by: Rebecca Soler, Patricia Walsh Chadwick

They promised her heaven, but there was no savior.

Imagine an 18-year-old American girl who has never read a newspaper, watched television, or made a phone call. An 18-year-old-girl who has never danced - and this in the 1960s.

It is in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Leonard Feeney, a controversial (soon to be excommunicated) Catholic priest, has founded a religious community called the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Center's members - many of them educated at Harvard and Radcliffe - surrender all earthly possessions and aspects of their life, including their children, to him. Patricia Chadwick was one of those children, and Little Sister is her account of growing up in the Feeney sect.

Separated from her parents and forbidden to speak to them, Patricia bristles against the community’s draconian rules, yearning for another life. When, at 17, she is banished from the Center, her home, she faces the world alone, without skills, family, or money but empowered with faith and a fierce determination to succeed on her own, which she does, rising eventually to the upper echelons of the world of finance and investing.

A tale of resilience and grace, Little Sister chronicles, in riveting prose, a surreal childhood and does so without rancor or self-pity.

©2019 Patricia Walsh Chadwick (P)2019 Patricia Walsh Chadwick

Fascinating Story

This is such a fascinating story especially since it is real life! Though I live in nearby Rhode Island, I had no idea that this had happened so close to me. The reader is fantastic, and the characters are so well developed. I found myself shaking my head to think how this young girl and her family had survived and come through this without holding any grudges. A true eye-opener to how innocent people can become so wrapped up in a cult. Definitely worth the read!

Fantastic story, very well told

The authors story told in the reader’s voice was absolutely perfect and so believable. The epilogue was the icing on the cake and the Author’s final words in her own voice were the sprinkles or the cherry on top if you will. I don’t know if I loved it so much because I relate to her on so many levels as a result of my own Catholic upbringing in a large extended family in Philadelphia with one of my dearest aunts being a nun and a dear cousin who became a priest, but also I was an ambitious woman in the male dominated world of public accounting

Either way I thought the story was compelling and the outcome superb - bravo Patricia for your willingness to share and your ability to allow deep and abiding love to see you through all adversity

The Perfect Story and Reading

I loved listening to this book... while perfect and digestible in short chapters for your daily commute, I listened at long stretches of time during the 3 hr + stretch to my weekend home.

I even transferred the plug from my car to my earphones, not wanting the story to end. It was that interesting and entertaining and well read.

Just be sure you have time to listen to it as you won’t want to pause it either 😉

More than a Memoir!

An amazing story about a young girl who grew up in Boston and surrounding areas in an ex-communicated Catholic extremest group where she is eventually separated from her family. It is quite difficult to believe so many educated men and women actually fell under the religious group, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and included their families in this strange and extensive journey. I had such mixed feelings about Patricia's upbringing and her parents lack of ability to break free from this sudo-cult but her remarkable fortitude and intelligence prevails . A must read!

Kept me interested and engaged from start to finish

This memoir was beautifully written ! I’m interested in the psychology of very smart people who join a group to find themselves and somehow end up losing so much of themselves to a manipulative leader. This is a very different perspective of living in a cult-like sect. I really devoured this book in just a few days and am kinda sad it’s over. Get it, you won’t regret it.

Engaging, Honest, Forthright & Insightful

I found this memoir to be an excellent story surrounding life as Fenneites. This "Community" had always interested me since it involved celibate families and children being raised communally. I found the author brought forth a healthy evaluation of her experience. It pleased me that this wasn't another "Dump on Jesus & Trad Catholics" book but rather she was able to see and express the good, bad and totally misguided fervor of the leaders and it's effect on one family. This book is definitely worth the read. It is most of all cautionary tale for any who might be lulled into "community" looking for "belonging" but possibly finding a sick, narcissist leading the "true believers".