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Hear My Voice
As three women attend an awards ceremony in their honor, they relive their complicated personal and religious journeys. While listening to the speakers, each struggles with a difficult choice she must make by the end of the evening that will forever change her life. Mona Sullivan seeks peace and certitude when she becomes a nun, but must adjust to tumultuous changes in her Church. As she becomes an activist public figure, she must decide whether to stay in the Church or leave to become an Episcopal priest. Sandra Miller embarks on a long and difficult journey to become a rabbi at a time when women weren’t accepted. Now she must choose between her childhood sweetheart and her successful career. Reverend Elizabeth Adams builds a Presbyterian congregation with her husband, but he leaves her for a younger woman. She discovers she’s a lesbian and faces a difficult choice between her same-sex relationship and her career. Set between 1940 and 1990, the story follows the civil rights struggles that revolutionized every major institution—including religion. Real events and figures lend Hear My Voice impressive authenticity and relevance, making it a must-read for people of all faiths.
316 pages, Paperback
Published August 7, 2018
About the author
Marcia R. Rudin
6 books3 followersThe author of the novels Hear My Voice and Flower Toward the Sun, Marcia R. Rudin was born in Pueblo, Colorado and grew up in Champaign, Illinois. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Boston University, majoring in Philosophy and Religion, where she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. Ms. Rudin also studied Social Anthropology and Theology at the University of Edinburgh, earning Second Honors. She received a joint MA Degree in Religion from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary, specializing in Philosophy of Religion. She studied for a Ph.D. in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research. After teaching History of Religion at Brooklyn Friends School, she joined the faculty of William Paterson College in New Jersey, where she taught philosophy, history of religion, and philosophy of education at both undergraduate and graduate levels. She has also been a guest professor and lecturer at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida.
She is co-author with Rabbis A. James Rudin and Hirshel Jaffe of Why Me? Why Anyone?, published by St. Martin’s Press and reissued by Jason Aronson, Inc., and with Rabbi Rudin of Prison or Paradise? The New Religious Cults, published by Fortress Press. She edited and contributed to the anthology Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge, an International Cult Education Program book published by the International Cultic Studies Association.
She is also a screenwriter and playwright. She was a resident in screenwriting at the MacDowell in 2003. Nine of her plays have received fifteen productions in Manhattan, New Jersey, Santa Cruz and San Diego, California, Charles Town, West Virginia, Bonita Springs, Florida, and Canton, Michigan. Two have been produced as podcasts by MIssing Links, a division of Between Acts, and several have received staged readings. Her ten-minute play Paul Newman Hops the Amtrak Auto-Train was a winner in 2006 of the ETC playwriting contests of Naples (FL) Players at Sugden Community Theatre and was read over radio station WGCU-FM in Fort Myers. Her one-act play Closings was the Silver Medalist at the 2017 New Voice Play Festival at the Old Opera House Theatre Company and Arts Centre in Charles Town, West Virginia.
She blogs over IPubForum.
She has published articles and book reviews about destructive cults, women rabbis, black Jews, genetic engineering, Nazi war criminals, Holocaust refugees, and Jewish feminism in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Congressional Quarterly Researcher, Encyclopedia Judaica, Present Tense, Fifty Plus, Worldview, The New Leader, Catholic Digest, Our Town, Religious Education, P.S.: The Intelligent Guide to Jewish Affairs, The New York University Review of Law and Social Change, PTA Today, National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Bulletin, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, Dialogue, The Antigonish Review, Keeping Posted, The Cult Observer, The Advisor, Cultic Studies Journal, Boston University Alumni Magazine, and ReformJudaism.org.
An acknowledged international expert on destructive cults for over thirty years, Ms. Rudin is the Founding Director of the International Cult Education Program, a preventive-education outreach of the International Cultic Studies Association. She has written widely about cults and psychological manipulation, appeared at conferences and panel discussions, and lectured on these topics throughout the U.S. and in Canada and Poland. Ms. Rudin has been cited as a cult expert in such publications as The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Enquirer, The Los Angeles Times, Modern Maturity, The Chicago Sun Times, The Portland Oregonian, The Austin-American Statesman, and Woman’s Day.
Her media appearances include “Dateline NBC”; “CBS Evening News”; “CBS Morning News”; “Donohue”; National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”; “Geraldo Rivera”; “Rivera Live”; “Larry King Live”; “Good Morning, New York”; CBS-TV’s “Nightwatch” and
She is co-author with Rabbis A. James Rudin and Hirshel Jaffe of Why Me? Why Anyone?, published by St. Martin’s Press and reissued by Jason Aronson, Inc., and with Rabbi Rudin of Prison or Paradise? The New Religious Cults, published by Fortress Press. She edited and contributed to the anthology Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge, an International Cult Education Program book published by the International Cultic Studies Association.
She is also a screenwriter and playwright. She was a resident in screenwriting at the MacDowell in 2003. Nine of her plays have received fifteen productions in Manhattan, New Jersey, Santa Cruz and San Diego, California, Charles Town, West Virginia, Bonita Springs, Florida, and Canton, Michigan. Two have been produced as podcasts by MIssing Links, a division of Between Acts, and several have received staged readings. Her ten-minute play Paul Newman Hops the Amtrak Auto-Train was a winner in 2006 of the ETC playwriting contests of Naples (FL) Players at Sugden Community Theatre and was read over radio station WGCU-FM in Fort Myers. Her one-act play Closings was the Silver Medalist at the 2017 New Voice Play Festival at the Old Opera House Theatre Company and Arts Centre in Charles Town, West Virginia.
She blogs over IPubForum.
She has published articles and book reviews about destructive cults, women rabbis, black Jews, genetic engineering, Nazi war criminals, Holocaust refugees, and Jewish feminism in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Congressional Quarterly Researcher, Encyclopedia Judaica, Present Tense, Fifty Plus, Worldview, The New Leader, Catholic Digest, Our Town, Religious Education, P.S.: The Intelligent Guide to Jewish Affairs, The New York University Review of Law and Social Change, PTA Today, National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Bulletin, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, Dialogue, The Antigonish Review, Keeping Posted, The Cult Observer, The Advisor, Cultic Studies Journal, Boston University Alumni Magazine, and ReformJudaism.org.
An acknowledged international expert on destructive cults for over thirty years, Ms. Rudin is the Founding Director of the International Cult Education Program, a preventive-education outreach of the International Cultic Studies Association. She has written widely about cults and psychological manipulation, appeared at conferences and panel discussions, and lectured on these topics throughout the U.S. and in Canada and Poland. Ms. Rudin has been cited as a cult expert in such publications as The New York Times, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Enquirer, The Los Angeles Times, Modern Maturity, The Chicago Sun Times, The Portland Oregonian, The Austin-American Statesman, and Woman’s Day.
Her media appearances include “Dateline NBC”; “CBS Evening News”; “CBS Morning News”; “Donohue”; National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”; “Geraldo Rivera”; “Rivera Live”; “Larry King Live”; “Good Morning, New York”; CBS-TV’s “Nightwatch” and
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 28, 2019
A novel that traces the lives of three religious women: a Catholic nun, a Jewish rabbi, and a Presbyterian pastor, all ground-breakers for women in religious leadership. I loved all that I learned about the shifting opportunities for women in religion, but I got tired of the focus on the women’s sex lives. In addition, I found the writing very uneven. Sometimes it read like a novel; other times it sounded like a history book.
May 6, 2020
This book profiles the lives and decisions of 3 unique religious women during the evolution of the feminist movement. For anyone who has lived through this time, it is challenging at times to be reminded of the deep rooted sexism of the time. This is a very powerful story that revisits a pivotal time in history.
June 18, 2018
I read the book for my book club. I am an atheist and found all the religion talk to be very exhausting and uninteresting. However, the women's personal stories - family, affairs, divorce, church/temple changing - to be very interesting.
May 13, 2018
What a marvelous book. This bold novel tells the stories of three very strong and courageous women. The young Catholic woman wants to become a nun, and, after experiencing a life-changing event, the Protestant woman is determined to serve God as a Presbyterian Minister. The Jewish woman yearns to remain dedicated to her religion by becoming a Rabbi. We follow Mona, Liz and Sandy from 1940-1990 as they vigorously work to achieve their personal goals.
The research that Ms. Rudin undertook was staggering and historically significant. I had mentally put-aside the turbulent years of the 1960's and it was fascinating to read a recap of those tumultuous times. It was helpful for me to recall the history of the civil rights era and to remember the struggles that women experienced. As women, we continue to fight for our rights in society and these three very strong characters give credence to why the women's movement must continue.
Learning about other religions and discovering the similarities struck all of the right chords with me. Hear My Voice lends itself to having exceptionally interesting book club discussions. A true gem of a book, bravo Ms. Rudin!
The research that Ms. Rudin undertook was staggering and historically significant. I had mentally put-aside the turbulent years of the 1960's and it was fascinating to read a recap of those tumultuous times. It was helpful for me to recall the history of the civil rights era and to remember the struggles that women experienced. As women, we continue to fight for our rights in society and these three very strong characters give credence to why the women's movement must continue.
Learning about other religions and discovering the similarities struck all of the right chords with me. Hear My Voice lends itself to having exceptionally interesting book club discussions. A true gem of a book, bravo Ms. Rudin!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews