Online Reviews
"Johnson is a terrific writer - incisive, thoughtful, able to conjure the excitement and passion for her calling and just as vividly describe her fall." --Toni Whitmont, editor of Booktopia Buzz
"I read a lot. I can honestly say that this is the first autobiography that I have ever read that I could not put down!" Reason-Being
"This is a moving, comprehensive, scathingly honest memoir about the heights and depths, heaven and hell, of the spiritual life of a notable community of nuns modeled after the saint-like figure, Mother Teresa! Read it, not to judge, but to know honesty and truth prevail, divine and otherwise! Astonishing book!" Crystal Book Reviews
"This is not "The Singing Nun," or just a diary of a woman in a religious community. Her story goes deeper, into the culture of this particular order and her responses to her experiences. This is about her own spiritual development, faltering, doubt, hope and faith."Alvarado Frazier: Strong Women Grow Here
"An Unquestionable Thirst is a long novel, over five hundred pages, but it is riveting and worth every page." Minding Spot
"This memoir reads lightly even when dealing with heavy matter, such as Mother Teresa’s surprising demeanor and even more surprising actions and reactions to certain matters. Johnson, in that gentle contemplative way of hers, examines every corner of thought in theology, concluding instead that it’s biology she desires, and not heaven but earth." PR by the Book
"An Unquenchable Thirst is an intimate look at a lifestyle that has been shrouded in mystery for centuries. . . Her honest portrayal of the order and Mother Teresa should be required reading for anyone seeking a life as a religious." The Cyberlibrarian Reads
"I found the peek into the inner workings of a convent to be interesting and surprising at times. If you have ever wondered just what might go on or what it takes to be a Missionary of Charity nun, working under and for Mother Theresa, An Unquenchable Thirst is an excellent place to start." The Agnostic's Wife
"Mother Teresa’s a modern-day saint; we hold her in such high esteem, we find it difficult to imagine how very human she was. I admire the courage Mary had to muster in order to claim a God of unfolding love over the God of rules within Mother Teresa’s order." - Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, Spiritual Memoir
"I highly recommend An Unquenchable Thirst to anyone who admires Mother Teresa, or has wondered about the reality of taking on a life of service." --Hilary Williamson, from BookLoons
"Johnson takes the reader into a world often idealized by the general public only to demonstrate that it is populated by people, all of whom have human strengths and failings. . . It is clear that Johnson had deep love and respect for Mother Teresa. Few people have the opportunity to see a living religious icon on a regular basis like Johnson did, so seeing her private, too-real human side will be uncomfortable for some readers." - Christina Wantz Fixemer, Wantz Upon a Time
"This book will shock some Catholics and depress others who want to believe in the saintliness of Mother Teresa and her nuns. For readers like me, it will confirm an unavoidable truth: The religious life is not free from petty jealousy, destructive envy, greed for power and control, or even from lust and cruelty. Within the confines of a convent, all these sins may be discovered if you stay long enough, yet this does not mean that the religion is false or its proponents deluded." Book Reporter.com
"This stunning insightful memoir follows a journey into and away from the spiritual realm and also provides a rare look inside the Missionaries of Charity." Genre Go Round
“[Mary Johnson] made the story powerful without whitewashing the negatives or dismissing the positives. Despite her choice to leave the nuns and her vows, she never waivers in her belief in Mother Teresa.
"May the words in this book reach far and wide!" --Tamam Kahn, from CompleteWord
"Mary Johnson is brutally honest throughout the book, especially about herself. She freely lets us into her deepest secrets, thoughts, desires, and problems." --The Book Garden
“A well-written, fascinating story about a nun privileged to enter Mother Teresa’s inner circle, a nun who rose to a position of influence among other nuns of the order only to eventually leave the church altogether. I applaud Mary Johnson’s work.” --Rosemary Carstens, from Feast of Books
"This book was... uncensored look at what daily life in a fundamentalist religious order is really like, almost an X-ray view into a group that's normally opaque to outsiders." --Adam Lee, from BigThink
“The power of Mary Johnson’s unusual route to self-discovery through joining Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity lies in the mass of details describing her everyday life among the Sisters, as they strive to live close to God and give to the poor.” --Lyn McDonald, review from Mindfood.com
"The courage it took to walk away from that life as a nun and to embrace a new way of thinking, living, and loving is almost unimaginable, the courage to share her story in this book even more so." --Rhetta Akamatsu, from Blog Critics
“Mary Johnson provides a fascinating insight into life in Mother Teresa’s order, a life which for many will seem unnecessarily harsh, restrictive and intensely lonely. There is also opportunity for abuse… it would appear that some in positions of authority are still steeped in the attitudes and sins of the world.” --Andy Morgan, from Luke Fourteen Thirty Three Blog