Mother Alexandra of Memory Eternal

The story of the life of Princess Ileana of Romania has been told by Bev Cooke in her latest book Royal Monastic: Princesss Ileana of Romania. Here is the blurb at Conciliar Press:

The life of a princess isn’t all glamour, handsome princes, and beautiful clothes. It’s also devotion to duty, sacrifice for your people, and a lot of just plain hard work. And if your country happens to suffer two world wars and a communist takeover in your lifetime, it means danger and suffering, exile and heartache as well. Princess Ileana of Romania endured all this and more. But her deeply rooted Orthodox faith saw her through it all, and eventually led her in her later years to the peaceful repose of monasticism. But that life included sacrifice and hard work as well, because as Mother Alexandra she was called to build the first English-language Orthodox women’s monastery in the United States—the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. Princess Ileana’s story is a thrilling tale of love and loss, danger and rescue, sacrifice and reward. Her inspiring life stands as a beacon of faith and holiness for young women of all times and nations to follow.

Bev Cooke is the author of Keeper of the Light (Conciliar Press, 2006) and Feral (Orca Book Publishers, 2008). She lives in Victoria, British Columbia. Learn more about Bev. and her work at http://www.bevcooke.ca/.

Mother Christophora, Abbess of the Orthodox monastery founded by Mother Alexandra in Pennsylvania, has written: "We are deeply grateful to Bev Cooke for her extensive research coupled with her storytelling ability that makes the life of Mother Alexandra--Royal Monastic--a comprehensive and enjoyable read for any age. We are sure that readers will learn to appreciate the woman who lived on three continents during the most troubled time in modern history--a woman who in some ways could identify with everyone she met, yet in other ways with no one on earth."