THE ANNALS OF IOWA prised themselves by exerting their own energy against complete domination" (187). That certainly was the case for the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known commonly as the BVM Sisters. Butler briefly touches on the diplomatic relations between Mother Mary Frances Clarke, the founder of this Dubuque-based congregation, and the order's spiritual director, Reverend Terence J. Donaghoe. Although Clarke had organizational authority over her sisters, Donaghoe

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... led the order's financial resources. Clarke never challenged Donaghoe's authority, but she did use the priest's death as the opportunity to seize her order's financial assets, file articles of incorporation with the state, and assume full control of the congregation. Butler refers to the working relationships between nuns and their male superiors as contests for control. "From those contests," she adds, "sometimes won and sometimes lost, nuns and sisters broadened their life selections, enlarged their expectations, and found ways to forge a convent life that complemented the realities of the American West" (189). These women understood that they were not members of a democratic church; in fact, they believed in rules and a hierarchy of authority. And yet, these women also responded to particular circumstances and, like Mother Clarke, seized authority when it was opportune. The women religious of the American West have found their voice in this book. Based on research in dozens of congregational archives, Across God's Frontiers is an exceptional work of research and analysis. One can only hope-perhaps pray is a better word-that the history of women religious in other regions of the country will find a scholar as diligent and thoughtful as Anne Butler.