Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) was born into a devout Catholic home in France. At the age of 15 she entered the Carmelite convent at Lisieux, where two of her sisters were already nuns. She died when she was only 24 years old, after a long struggle with tuberculosis. She was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church in 1925. Sometimes known as The Story of the Little White Flower, this book was written at the request of her superiors, for the benefit of other nuns. When it was published, the story of her deep and simple piety attracted an enormous following. This edition is based on Thomas N. Taylor's 1916 translation from the first definitive Carmelite edition published in 1914.