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Mother Teresa of Calcutta--no figure alive today has received the adulation that she has, and she is frequently cited as the living embodiment of Christian kindness. Recipient of numerous humanitarian awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, she had been characterized as a living saint and commands unrivaled international attention, even at the highest levels. Yet the respect she has received has not been unanimous, and since 1990 serious criticisms have been directed at this modern icon, who had once seemed beyond reproach. In this fascinating biography Anne Sebba reveals the truth behind Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity. She considers her attitudes toward abortion (women who have had abortions are hailed as murderers), rape (women who have been raped are given no help in terminating their pregnancy), her association with dictators such as the Duvaliers in Haiti, her medical negligence (inadequate use of painkillers, reuse of unsterilized needles), her ethics (she accepted hundreds of thousands of stolen dollars from S&L financier Charles Keating). Alongside these unflattering aspects, this work also considers the highlights of her dedication to the sick, dying and destitute, and looks at the motivation that drives Mother Teresa. Hers is an extraordinary life, full of paradox. She has enormous courage, love and determination, and her work poses some of the most profound questions of our age.

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Library Journal Review

Journalist Sebba (Battling for News, Trafalgar, 1995) tells the story of Mother Teresa both chronologically and thematically (focusing on such issues as medicine, theology, politics, and ego, for instance) and also examines criticisms of Mother Teresa, acknowledging that no synthesis is possible because of the enormous variety of views. She succeeds in telling her subject's story in the first half of her book but then sets criteria for judging Mother Teresa that sometimes seem extraneous to her subject's aims and achievements. The author does not understand the relationship between Mother Teresa and the Indian press and criticizes her for developing a canny political instinct, though she was born into a household where politics and business were pursued with equal élan. Sebba's criticisms often don't lend clarity to the depth and complexity of Mother Teresa. Recognizing this, the reader can still move forward to consider Mother Teresa as a woman, religious leader, and care-giver to the poor. Not recommended.‘Leroy Hommerding, Citrus Cty. Lib. System, Inverness, Fla. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this substantial‘and sadly timely‘biography, freelance journalist Sebba refuses to canonize Mother Teresa as a "living saint." Instead, drawing upon interviews with friends and critics of Mother Teresa, she explores the historical, very human and questionable aspects of the life and work of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. Part one explores the biographical details of Mother Teresa's life from her early years and religious calling in Albania and her increasing international reputation that culminated in her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 to the strong criticism of Mother Teresa and her work by Christopher Hitchens in his 1994 film Hell's Angel. Part two collects the voices of the supporters and the foes of Mother Teresa's views on medicine, theology and politics. In each section, Sebba allows these two groups to express their views of Mother Teresa in their own words. Critics of Mother Teresa most often question what they perceive to be her desire for control and power and her unwillingness to help the sick get better by using available medical technology or by surrounding herself with appropriate medical personnel. Sebba also collects voices that are critical of Mother Teresa's anti-contraception position in a nation plagued by overpopulation, and of her association with controversial political figures like Haitian dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier. Friends of Mother Teresa describe a woman committed to her vow of ministering to the poor through the lovingkindness of mere physical touching. Many friends also describe Mother Teresa as a woman of uncompromising vision and determination whose ability to manipulate the press and politicians helped her build her mission organization. In an epilogue, Sebba briefly recounts the election of Sister Nirmala as Superior General of the Order. By allowing both friends and foes of Mother Teresa to speak for themselves, Sebba strives for a balanced look "beyond the image" at the life and work of Mother Teresa. In the end, though, Sebba still concludes that "in spite of all the criticism leveled against her, Mother Teresa gave people the opportunity to express their love for their fellow human beings." (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

When it comes to writing about a modern-day saint, most authors would toe the party line. Sebba is to be commended for looking a little more closely at Mother Teresa and her work, yet doing so in a way that is respectful and evenhanded. The early life of the Albanian girl, Agnes Bojaxhiu, who would become Mother Teresa was unremarkable, and though Sebba provides a complete biography, her account is at its provocative best when it asks the difficult questions about Mother Teresa's work. Among the topics she raises: the Missionaries of Charity's penchant for using nuns that are uneducated and untrained in medical work; Mother Teresa's unrelenting attack on abortion and family planning in a host country (India) that is seriously overpopulated; her reported association with dictators such as Duvalier in Haiti, as well as disgraced financier Charles Keating. Using a personal tone, Sebba discloses both on-and off-the-record interviews with confidants, a number of whom are critical of Mother Teresa's methods. However, Sebba also supplies good explanations of why Mother Teresa works the ways she does, and the nun's simple calling, to love the dying, has a gut-level pull, even as readers may come to disagree with some of her methods and even parts of her message. A provocative book that should prompt much media attention. --Ilene Cooper