The Spiral Staircase

A raw, intensely personal memoir of spiritual exploration from one of the world’s great commentators on religion.

After seven years in a convent, which she left, dismayed by its restrictions, an experience recounted in ‘Through the Narrow Gate’, Karen Armstrong struggled to establish herself in a new way of life, and became entrapped in a downward spiral, haunted by despair, anorexia and suicidal feelings.

Despite her departure from the convent she remained within the Catholic Church until the God she believed in 'died on me', and she entered a ‘wild and Godless period of crazy parties and numerous lovers’. Her attempts to reach happiness and carve out a career failed repeatedly, in spectacular fashion. She began writing her bestseller ‘A History of God’ in a spirit of scepticism, but through studying other religious traditions she found a very different kind of faith which drew from Christianity, Judaism and Islam and, eventually, spiritual and personal calm.

In her own words, her ‘story is a graphic illustration – almost an allegory – of a widespread dilemma. It is emblematic of a more general flight from institutional religion and a groping towards a form of faith that has not yet been fully articulated but which is nevertheless in the process of declaring itself’. Her lifelong inability to pray and to conform to traditional structures of worship is shared by the many who are leaving the established churches but who desire intensely a spiritual aspect to their lives.

‘The Spiral Staircase’ grapples with the issue of how we can be religious in the contemporary world, and the place and possibility of belief in the 21st-century.

“'An exceptionally impressive autobiography…Karen Armstrong's account of her spiralling journey provokes thought and inspires respect.'Daily Telegraph 'The book deserves many readers…Karen Armstrong must be a woman of iron to have survived, made a career and a life.' Hilary Mantel 'Admirably lucid…she gives a more exact and vivid account of the pleasures of writing than any I have seen.' Sunday Times 'Unputdownable absorbing, moving.' Daily Mail 'A subtle and funny memoir.' Sunday Telegraph 'Armstrong manages to put into words something that most of us cannot express.' New Statesman”

'An exceptionally impressive autobiography... Karen Armstrong's account of her spiralling journey provokes thought and inspires respect' Daily Telegraph 'The book deserves many readers! Karen Armstrong must be a Woman of Iron to have survived, made a career and a life.' Hilary Mantel 'Admirably lucid... she gives a more exact and vivid account of the pleasures of writing than any I have seen' Sunday Times 'Unputdownable - absorbing, moving' Daily Mail 'A subtle and funny memoir' Sunday Telegraph Praise for The History for God: 'Only those who think they know it all will fail to be fascinated by Armstrong's search for God.' The Economist 'Highly readable and ought to be read!.Karen Armstong has read widely, has missed nothing, and gives us as solid a purview of the God of the past as it would be possible to find in a book,' Anthony Burgess, Observer 'Karen Armstrong is a genius.' A. N. Wilson

Karen Armstrong was born in Worcestershire. After becoming a nun in the 1960s, she left her order and lectured in literature at London University before becoming a full time writer, broadcaster and international adviser on religious and political affairs. A regular columnist for the Guardian, her books include A History of God, The Gospel According to Women, The Battle for God, Islam: A Short History, Through the Narrow Gate, her memoir A Spiral Staircase and A Short History of Myth: The Great Transformation and Buddha. Her work has been translated into forty languages. Karen Armstrong is also the author of three television documentaries. In 1999 she was awarded the Muslim Public Affairs Council Media Award and she was recently awarded a First Decoration of Art and Literature by the Egyptian Government – the first Western woman to be given this award. Since 11 September 2001 she has been a frequent contributor to conferences, panels, newspapers and periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic on the subject of Islam and fundamentalism. She has twice addressed members of the United States Congress, was one of three scholars to speak in the United Nations in the first session ever devoted to religion in that body, and has also been invited to advise members of the Canadian parliament on relations with the Islamic world. In June 2002, she gave the keynote address at the annual convention of the American Muslim Council, and is currently involved in a major project to develop an intellectually strong and pluralistic American Islam with leading members of the Muslim community. She lives in London.

A raw, intensely personal memoir of spiritual exploration from one of the world's great commentators on religion. After seven years in a convent, which she left, dismayed by its restrictions, an experience recounted in 'Through the Narrow Gate', Karen Armstrong struggled to establish herself in a new way of life, and became entrapped in a downward spiral, haunted by despair, anorexia and suicidal feelings. Despite her departure from the convent she remained within the Catholic Church until the God she believed in 'died on me', and she entered a 'wild and Godless period of crazy parties and numerous lovers'. Her attempts to reach happiness and carve out a career failed repeatedly, in spectacular fashion. She began writing her bestseller 'A History of God' in a spirit of scepticism, but through studying other religious traditions she found a very different kind of faith which drew from Christianity, Judaism and Islam and, eventually, spiritual and personal calm. In her own words, her 'story is a graphic illustration - almost an allegory - of a widespread dilemma. It is emblematic of a more general flight from institutional religion and a groping towards a form of faith that has not yet been fully articulated but which is nevertheless in the process of declaring itself'. Her lifelong inability to pray and to conform to traditional structures of worship is shared by the many who are leaving the established churches but who desire intensely a spiritual aspect to their lives. 'The Spiral Staircase' grapples with the issue of how we can be religious in the contemporary world, and the place and possibility of belief in the 21st-century.

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