Therese Martin died of tuberculosis on September 30, 1897. She was twenty-four years old and hardly known outside the circle of her family and the convent of Carmelite sisters in the small Normandy town of Lisieux. Yet within fifteen years her name was recognized throughout the world, her spiritual autobiography translated into a dozen languages. In 1925, less than twenty-eight years after her death, she was canonized a saint, and in 1997 she was named a Doctor of the Church, a teacher and model for contemporary believers.How does one explain the phenomenon of Therese? There is something about her "little way" that appeals to people, that makes holiness seem possible even to ordinary folk. There was also something about Therese herself: her simplicity, her directness and the fact that she so obviously loved God and loved people. More than most great figures of the church, Therese was the saint who loved us.This book tells the story of Therese in her own right. It tells of her childhood, her decision to enter Carmel and her growth into holiness. It concentrates on her great work, The Story of a Soul, relating how this spiritual memoir came to be written, the obstacles it encountered and finally how the book swept up all of Christendom in its passion for God. Read Less