Corte Madera, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/02/2018 --Seeking perfection is anything but a simple task. The very concept of it is ever changing, and to grasp fleeting things is always a challenge in itself. Add that to a turbulent time in America's history, and you have the makings for a compelling story. Kathleen Wade, through the eyes and ears of Maggie Walsh, dives head first into the ingrained complexity of a young, catholic woman's life searching for purpose through the church in 1960s America.

These are trying times for the whole country, but specially tough on young people taking on the religious path. Church reform is about to unfold bring radical changes, a falling out with the sitting pope, the civil rights movement at full speed backed buy anti war protests shaking an already volatile political homefront. Being a young, confused woman in such an era is like flying stormy skies. It's within this context that Maggie Walsh joins the convent, facing opposition from her family, except her father, uncertainty in all relationships and all around doubt from both sides of the church walls.

Kathleen threads very carefully and treats the story rather tastefully. It is a romance novel in essence, focused on the demanding life of a young nun, but she takes it further and beyond, not limiting Maggie to her life within church walls, but instilling a sense of questioning very necessary for anyone trying to find their purpose in life. Is there a correct way to achieve perfection? Is that even possible? Could Maggie try without being concerned with anything else surrounding her? Maggie is as relatable as it is fascinating.

The author uses much of her own experience as a religious woman who's very active in women's empowerment and creative endeavours. Through Maggie, she deals with some of her own conflicts, while opening it up to everyone to find their particular meaning for what Maggie goes through throughout the story. Her certainty on some things knocked down by her indecision in others, many times doubting her own faith, it's about the most human thing that can be experienced, along with our innate curiosity and penchant for a good mystery.

In Perfection, Kathleen Wade explores all of these issues, the history of america, the whirlwind world of a young woman in doubt looking for for what she believes she needs. However, it still is a comforting tale of love and belief. Maggie's the one steering the wheel, but Kathleen drew the map of the road. It's impossible to read Perfection and not wonder about all the possible outcomes, questioning what perfection itself is and if it's worth chasing it at all. After all, aren't we all wandering, living with choices made in pursuit of the very perfection we question but hope to reach? Is faith alone enough?

Kathleen Wade has enjoyed a thirty-year teaching career. She served for ten years as Writer, Teacher, Facilitator and Executive Director of Women Writing for (a) Change, a writing community for women, girls and men in Cincinnati. Most recently she served as Director of leadership-development programs for women religious and their associates.

About Kathleen Wade
Her poems and essays have appeared in many anthologies, and her full-length, non-fiction book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives, features the lives of lay people who are associates of religious communities. She was a member of a religious community of sisters for over a decade. She continues to consult with religious communities and lives with her husband in Cincinnati.