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

(Hardback)

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An infectiously edifying manual that mines the lives of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century nuns, offering advice for our modern age and proving one thing: no matter the century, nuns know best.

When most of us think of nuns, we picture solemn shuffles down cloistered halls and hands clasped in prayer. But what about the nuns who erupted into jealous fights over makeup or crushed on their girlfriends In reality, these women were no one-dimensional martyrs. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century nuns were resourceful, rebellious and refreshingly relatable and their lives hold surprising lessons for us today.

Convent Wisdom is your guide to navigating the chaos of the modern world with help from historys most fascinating nuns. Struggling with money Saint Teresa and her fellow Carmelites have some divine budgeting hacks. Drowning in FOMO while scrolling through social media Mary of Jesus of gredas miraculous ability to be in two places at once might teach you how to finally keep up. Lost in the digital dating pool Benedetta Carlinis treatise on the seven ways to spot a lesbian nun may offer unexpected insights.

Blending rigorous research with pop culture and personal anecdotes throughout, best friends Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita lift the veil on monastic life so you can better conquer todays anxiety-ridden, hyper-connected world. From procrastination to imposter syndrome, friendship drama to creativity slumps, the nuns of Convent Wisdom are here to guide you with a wink and a prayer.

Reviews

'This self-help book by two scholarly BFFs is full of wisdom gleaned from the lives of 16th and 17th-century nuns like Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz and Saint Teresa that is applicable to your most modern quandries. The cheeky and insightful volume is also brimming with fascinating historical details, like the penchants of some nuns for side hustles and eating spiders -- Melissa Febos * Marie Claire *

Author Bio

Ana Garriga is a scholar of early modern Spain and Latin America. She earned her PhD from Brown University in 2024. Prior to joining the Department of Hispanic Studies at Brown, she received a prestigious Fulbright scholarship and completed a PhD at Universidad Autnoma de Madrid, where she wrote her dissertation on the letters of Saint Teresa of vila (151582).

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 Kings College London. She was granted a scholarship to pursue a Master of Studies in modern languages at the University of Oxford.

In 2020, Ana and Carmen launched Las hijas de Felipe, one of the most popular podcasts in the Spanish-speaking world.