A Review of Memoir of a Basque Lieutenant Nun Transvestite in the New World.
Memoir of a Basque Lieutenant Nun Transvestite in the New World is the translated autobiography of Catalina de Erauso, a woman who spent most of her adult life posing as a man after fleeing her convent shortly before she would take her final vows. She ran away in 1600 and from then on dressed and acted as men did. She worked many different jobs for all kinds of people, joined up with the military, fought unbelievable battles, killed many men, including her own brother, and survived arrest, death sentences, battle wounds and long tedious journeys. Her life included having riches and having nothing, not even shoes, but somehow she persevered and continued her fabulous life until 1650. She confessed her masquerade to a bishop after killing a man in a gambling quarrel. She is shortly accepted back into the convent of her choice but cannot stay because she never did take her final vows. Her secret is out but she lives the rest of her life dressed as and acting as a man.
There are many interesting points in this memoir; however, some of them seem quite unbelievable. For example, the fact that Catalina killed so many men, most single-handedly, and did not get killed for her actions or spend life in prison. She also never suffered a deadly blow in all of her duels and alley fights. Another point in the book that makes me skeptical is the fact that she came across family members and other people who knew her as a woman and no one thought that there was a resemblance, at least not that she mentions. Also, not one person ever thought she was a woman or discovered her secret on his or her own. One last unbelievable part of the book is that she knew so many people by name and family relations. She traveled to so many places and everywhere that she went she encountered or had experiences with many others. She can name all of these people's full names and other information such as their jobs, kids, and ancestors.