The Story of a Soul

he Story of a Soul is the autobiography of Thérèse of Lisieux, a French Discalced Carmelite nun, later recognized as a saint. It was first published on September 30, 1898, a year to the day after her death from tuberculosis at the age of 24, on September 30, 1897. The book was a single volume formed from three distinct manuscripts – manuscripts of different length, written at different times, addressed to different people, and differing from one another in character. The work of unifying these disparate manuscripts was carried out by Pauline, the sister of Thérèse. It was initially published with a limited audience in mind (the Carmelite convents and certain religious personalities), and just 2,000 copies of the 475-page book were printed. It quickly became a publishing phenomenon however, and Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus was canonised in 1925.