SANTIAGO, Chile, June 24, 2010 — Inspired by the religious women who were assassinated by the military in El Salvador in 1980, author Mary Judith Ress wrote "Blood Flowers" (published by iUniverse), a novel that gets inside the hearts and minds of dedicated missionary nuns, offering a close look at the idealistic motivation that has brought a whole generation of nuns to serve the poor in Latin America since the 1970s.
"Blood Flowers" is the story of Sister Meg Carney who is fresh out of the novitiate and sent as a missionary to Chile – just in time to witness the overthrow of the socialist government of Salvador Allende. In the aftermath of the brutal military coup, the priest she works with is murdered and she herself is the target of surveillance. Burnt out, she accepts an invitation to work in El Salvador where she joins Theo, her best friend from novitiate days and her former Novice Mistress "Queen Mum."
Sister Meg, fed by biblical reflection rather than by Marxist analysis, is a woman burdened by her vow of chastity, one who struggles with her religious vocation to serve the poor, but is soon caught up in events in El Salvador that bring revolutionary forces to a head. "Blood Flowers" graphically portrays the idealism, as well as the humanness and naivete, of the Sisters who went off to the missions. In spite of their weaknesses and innocence, readers will come to love them thanks to the heartfelt portrayal Ress draws.
Using some of her own experiences, Ress, too, worked in El Salvador. Tragically, the sister who replaced her, Sister Dorothy Kazel, was killed. Ress went to Chile in 1977 as a representative of the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) where she met Maryknoll Sister Ita Ford. Ford then answered the special request to go to El Salvador, where she was also killed. In part, Ress wrote her novel as a tribute to the women who lost their lives after being called to service.
About the Author
Mary Judith Ress is a journalist and editor who has been living and working in Latin America since 1970. Her non-fiction work "Ecofeminism in Latin America" (Orbis Books) won second place in "Best Gender Issues" at the Catholic Press Association in 2007. She has two grown sons and lives in Santiago, Chile. She is available for interview.
"Blood Flowers"
Available from: http://www.iUniverse.com, http://www.bn.com, and http://www.amazon.com
ISBN: 978-1440194580 – 6 x 9 – Paperback – 284 pages – $17.95
iUniverse offers a variety of publishing services to help individuals publish, market and sell fiction, poetry and nonfiction books. The company utilizes print-on-demand technology, and is one of the largest self-publishing companies in the U.S. iUniverse is based in Bloomington, Indiana.
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