Thomas Merton (1915-1968) entered the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, following his conversion to Catholicism and was ordained in 1949. During the 1960s, he was increasingly drawn into a dialogue between Eastern and Western religions and was actively engaged with domestic issues of war and racism.
Sue Monk Kidd was born in Sylvester, Georgia. During her thirties, she became deeply influenced by the work of Thomas Merton and C. G. Jung, which would impact her writing in the years ahead. She is the author of When the Heart Waits (1990), The Dance of the Dissident Daughter (1996), The Secret Life of Bees (2002), which sold 4.5 million copies worldwide, The Mermaid Chair (2005), and Firstlight (2006).