The Strain of Other Blood
The Life of the Reverend Mother Ruth from Harlem
- History & Biography
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Published: 2026
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Publisher's Description
Meet the Reverend Mother Ruth, a Black Protestant nun whose call to ministry would challenge and change the Episcopal Church The Strain of Other Blood tells the true story of a trailblazing Black Protestant nun. Born in Harlem in 1897, Ruth Elaine Younger sought to break away from her impoverished and turbulent family life and join an American Episcopal order. She was denied admission because of racial discrimination in the Episcopal Church, so she moved to Toronto and became a nun in the Anglican Church of Canada. But she never gave up her dream of living out her vocation in America, and her persistence eventually opened a path back to New York City, where she founded an Episcopal order for women and a private K–8 school in 1950 that is still flourishing today. Mother Ruth was a fascinating figure with a complex relationship to racial identity: on the one hand, she advocated passionately for multicultural faith and learning communities, while on the other hand, she sometimes passed as white when doing so enabled her to achieve her goals more effectively. She was also a controversial leader who maneuvered around the rules of the institutional church to achieve the goals to which she felt God was calling her. With compelling and candid storytelling, The Strain of Other Blood introduces readers to an unexpected civil rights advocate who was ahead of her time both in the church and in society.
Endorsements (3)
“Full of secrets and scandals, the story of Reverend Mother Ruth is a compelling read through the complexity, rigidness, and fluidity of race in New York City in the twentieth century. A new perspective on Harlem and its strivers and the vision of one woman for the church.”
“The Strain of Other Blood is a must-read book. Patricia Allen uses her love for storytelling, along with her research and her experience living among Episcopal sisters, to tell the story of Reverend Mother Ruth—a person of color who was persistent and did not take no for an answer. Allen’s book will also shed new light on the Episcopal Church’s religious orders and communities, which are hidden treasures that deserve to be more widely known.”
“Writing with compassion and insight, Patricia Allen takes readers on a journey of one woman’s dedication and faith through trying times.”
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