The White Sister

Francis Marion Crawford

Angela Chiaromonte is the daughter of a rich Italian count who is killed in a fall from his horse. Though she stands to inherit a large state, her older half-sister burns the will and thus inherits the property herself, throwing her sister Angela into poverty. Fortunately, she is engaged to marry dashing officer Captain Giovanni Severini, but he is captured by Arabs on an expedition to Africa. Unaware that her lover has escaped his captors and has returned to Italy, Angela dedicates her life to his memory, becoming a nun. The story describes Angela's renunciation of her love for the artillery officer, her life as the beautiful "white sister" in a convent, and the struggle between her love for the man and her allegiance to the church.