Suzanne is forced against her will to take vows as a nun and three mothers superior treat her in radically different ways. Suzanne's virtue brings disaster to everyone in this faithful adaptation of a bitter attack on religious abuses.

In eighteenth-century France a girl (Suzanne Simonin) is forced against her will to take vows as a nun. Three mothers superior (Madame de Moni, Sister Sainte-Christine, and Madame de Chelles) treat her in radically different ways, ranging from maternal concern, to sadistic persecution, to lesbian desire. Suzanne's virtue brings disaster to everyone in this faithful adaptation of a bitter attack on religious abuses by the Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot.—English Showalter <showalte@crab.rutgers.edu>

France, 1760. In exchange for a boarding fee, the spiteful aristocratic mother of the unwilling 16-year-old nun-to-be, Marie-Suzanne Simonin, shuts her up in a convent. As a result, forced into taking her vows, innocent Marie-Suzanne resigns herself to her fate and promises poverty, chastity, and obedience to God. However, Marie-Suzanne does not have a clear vocation. And, as the inexperienced novice joins the ascetic order, the absence of a calling, paired with impure sisterly affection, is a recipe for disaster. Can there be redemption for Marie-Suzanne, the reluctant nun?—Nick Riganas