“Kristin Grady Gilger wowed me with an astonishing memoir about her son’s joining the Jesuits despite her having high-tailed it out of the Church for the typical reasons—birth control and abortion, the hierarchy and scandals. But over time, his profound faith opened her heart and mind in ways you’ll never see coming. I champion this read for reader and cynic alike: it’s a page turner. Bravo!” —Mary Karr, author of the New York Times best-selling memoirs The Liars’ Club, Cherry, and Lit 

“Kristin Gilger has written a startlingly intimate and honest book. She doesn’t just grapple with her son’s decision to become a priest, but with the complex way the institution has impacted her Catholic family over generations, served as a vehicle for social politics she abhors, failed in the most hideous ways in its responsibilities, and yet nonetheless offered the structure and rituals that still help those of us who pray, ‘Lord I believe, help my unbelief’ to find a pathway to God.” —Phil Klay, author of Redeployment, winner of the National Book Award

“A generous, insightful, and charismatic young man tells his family he wants to become a Jesuit. What does his loving, fiercely intelligent, lapsed-Catholic mother want? As journalist Kristin Grady Gilger tells us in this gorgeously written account of her son Patrick’s journey to the priesthood, ‘I wanted it to stop.’ Gilger’s book is spiritual biography, as much hers as her remarkable son’s. If the admirable Paddy Gilger, SJ’s example does not incline you more deeply toward the mysteries, demands, and surprises of faith, his mother Kristin’s just might.” —Tracy Fessenden, Steve and Margaret Forster Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University

“In this thoughtful and empathetic memoir, Kristin Gilger invites readers to experience the highly unusual journey of a lapsed Catholic mother whose son decides to become a priest. With a journalist’s eye for observation and detail, she invites us into the story of how her son’s radical life choices have impacted their family. This book asks tough questions about faith and the Catholic Church, but never loses sight of the humanity at the center of all things.” —Kaya Oakes, author of The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life’s In-Betweens to Remake the World 

“There are many ways to approach a book like My Son, the Priest. It’s about Paddy [Gilger’s son], of course, and the Jesuits. It’s about the legions of people who have become disillusioned with the Catholic Church and the many who have stayed despite the Church’s obvious problems. It’s about parents and the lengths they will go to in to keep their children close. But more important, it’s a beautifully written tale of spiritual growth, the kind of growth that happens when you’re brave enough or scared enough or inspired enough to open yourself up to the possibility of the life of faith.” —James Martin, SJ, author of The New York Times bestsellers Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Learning to Pray

“A masterfully told tale about a mother and her son, a readable, relatable book that asks and answers challenging questions about family and spiritual growth. This is not only a story for Christian readers, although they will find special meaning in the compelling exploration of the Jesuit lifestyle and of the rich and often troubled history of Catholicism. It is not just a book for mothers and sons, although the author explores the nature of that relationship with the keen and revealing eye and clear voice of a journalist. It is a book for all who wrestle with questions of faith, who wonder about our paths as we watch our children choose their own.” —Mark Hass, author of The Days Before Tomorrow; Arizona State University professor

“There is no greater gift than the love of a parent and Kristin Gilger beautifully captures her journey and that of her beloved son, Paddy, when he makes the decision to become a Jesuit priest. You will be touched.” —Manuel Garcia, editor-in-chief of Houston Landing, and former executive editor, Austin American-Statesman