Review of Peter Tyler, Teresa of Avila: Doctor of the Soul , London: Bloomsbury, 2013. 223 pages

Peter Tyler had two main purposes, which he lays out in the Introduction to his book, in undertaking to write on the life, context, and work of the 16 th century Spanish Carmelite nun, monastic reformer, mystic, saint, Doctor of the Church, and, as he calls her in the book's subtitle, doctor of the soul, Teresa of Avila: first, to place her, especially by the style of her writing, within the medieval tradition of 'mystical theology'; second, to bring her into conversation with the post-modern world, in particular in light of a certain trend today of revisiting, in the face of the crisis of the 'death of modernity', the riches of the pre-modern era.The first of these purposes is accomplished in Parts One and Two of the book's three Parts, while the second purpose is approached in Part Three.Part One'The Context'lays out Teresa's precarious situation as a female mystic and would-be reformer of her Order against the backdrop of late 15 th -early 16 th century political oppression of Jews in Spain (her family was of Jewish converso heritage), Protestant Reformations across Europe, ongoing heresies within Spain and the Inquisition, as well as tensions within existing monastic Orders in Spain, especially the Carmelite Order with its close ties to (and consequently concessions to) the Spanish nobility.Part Two'The Writings'then takes a close look at the saint's four major works: The Book of the Life, The Book of Foundations, The Way of Perfection, and The Interior Castle.Tyler's analysis of these works unfolds with an eye to Teresa's inheritance of the tradition of 'mystical theology', especially its teaching on 'mental prayer' (or 'mindfulness', as Tyler prefers to translate Teresa's oracin mental), which came to her primarily through the writings of Francisco de Osuna.This is by far, in this reader's opinion, the most gripping section of the book.Tyler's attention to the subtleties of meaning in Teresa's style and use of wordsher sensitivities to her sociopolitical context, the alteration in her vocabulary over the span of many years and in close connection with her outer activities, and above all her struggle to articulate her experiences of spiritual intimacy and union with Godis exceptional.Especially remarkable is his consideration of the difficulties of translation of Teresa's texts.For many key passages he compares the range

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