Mark Salzman's Lying Awake is a finely wrought gem that plumbs the
depths of one woman's soul, and in so doing raises salient questions
about the power-and price-of faith.
Sister John's cloistered life of peace and prayer has been electrified
by ever more frequent visions of God's radiance, leading her toward a
deep religious ecstasy. Her life and writings have become examples of
devotion. Yet her visions are accompanied by shattering headaches that
compel Sister John to seek medical help. When her doctor tells her an
illness may be responsible for her gift, Sister John faces a wrenching
choice: to risk her intimate glimpses of the divine in favor of a cure,
or to continue her visions with the knowledge that they might be
false-and might even cost her her life.