The Company of Women : Ballantine : 9780345483010 : 0345483014 : 12 Mar 1986 : Mary Gordon's fiction explores the nature of love of religion, of family relationships and, in every sense, illuminates and enhances our lives. Raised by five intensely religious women and a charismatic, controversial priest, sheltered from the secular world, Felicitas Maria Taylor is intelligent, charming, and desperate for a taste of ordinary happiness. More freedom than she has ever imagined awaits her at Columbia University in the 1960s. There, Felicitas falls in love with the worst man for her?with shattering results. Now she must turn again to the company of the women who love her, as she struggles to embrace the future without betraying the past.   Praise for The Company of Women "A superb, stunningly written novel."?The Philadelphia Inquirer "Rich . . . satisfying . . . a work of vast intelligence and enormous charm."?Newsday