Callanan (Paris by the Book) builds a charming story from a woman's midlife crisis. Claire Murphy, 52, has made a career helping religious institutions sell buildings they can no longer afford. In 2019, she travels to Rome, where her clients, the American Sisters of Saint Gertrude, are debating whether to sell their convent. Claire, who lost her mother as a young girl and was raised by nuns in Milwaukee, had planned to become a nun herself after finishing Yale, but she changed her plans after getting pregnant from a one-night stand and having a daughter, Dorothy. Now, surrounded at the peaceful Rome convent by the vibrant Gertrudans, she again considers joining. In a parallel narrative, Claire's college friend Marcus Sardeson travels to Rome, intending to propose to Claire, having spent decades as a surrogate father figure to Dorothy. As Marcus builds up his nerve, he teams with Dorothy, now age 29, and Claire's business partner to stop Claire from becoming a nun. Despite a few plot contrivances--a key passed down by the nuns "in case of emergency" comes in handy during a crisis--Callanan keeps things moving with the question of the convent's fate hanging over the characters, and carefully outlines Claire's complicated feelings about her relationships and vocation. This is a delight. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group. (Mar.)

Claire has lived a pious life. She nearly gave up her spot at Yale to join the Society of Saint Clement, finding peace and solidarity among the nuns after her mother passed away. "Vowed life" never seemed like a sacrifice; her faith was ironclad and inexplicable. While she didn't end up joining the convent as a young woman, Claire built a career around churches, convents, and cemeteries through her work in commercial real estate. Her latest project brings her to Rome to help the Order of Saint Gertrude find a buyer for a convent that has fallen into financial hardship, but she's surprised to find a deeper connection to the property, the city, the language, the sisters. While 52 isn't too young to reevaluate and start a new chapter, is it too old to leave behind everything she's built? If Eat, Pray, Love was organized in a different order, it might feel a bit like Callanan's (Paris by the Book, 2018) introspective and genuine exploration of the sacrifices and opportunities that come with a new outlook on life. Taking a wide view of love of all types--platonic, spiritual, romantic, geographic--When in Rome should appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson, Kate Weinberg, and Emma Straub.

An encounter with an endangered convent in Rome prompts a middle-aged American woman to consider whether she is called to be a nun. After the nuns at a Milwaukee convent provided emotional care for her following her mother's death when she was 12, Claire Murphy dreamed of becoming one herself. Instead, she went to Yale, became a single mother, and sold real estate with her friend Monica, focusing particularly on decommissioned religious buildings. When a group of American nuns in Rome reaches out looking for help in finding a buyer who will take over their beautiful convent building but let them stay there, Claire, now 52, flies to Rome, where she begins to wonder if she is meant to take vows after all. But she also wonders about Marcus Sardeson, the man she fell in love with at Yale and just saw at their 30th reunion. Unbeknownst to Marcus, Claire never let herself get involved with him romantically after he had a health scare and she made a deal with God to save him. In Rome, Claire struggles to sort out her next steps, torn between life in America and ties with Marcus, Monica, and her adult daughter, Dorothy, and the Sisters with whom she's found emotional refuge in Rome, and wondering whether she's truly called by God or looking for community. Her choice becomes even harder when Marcus pursues her to Rome, accompanied by Dorothy and Monica. Callanan writes a richly drawn story about a woman feeling lost in her own life and finding unexpected connections, with a lively cast of supporting characters. Though the pace slows noticeably at times, Claire's confusion and indecision only make her more relatable, especially since she never becomes maudlin. A quiet and ultimately joyous depiction of self-discovery against a vibrant Roman setting. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.