Catherine Coldstream is a former nun who has written a memoir about her 12 years in a Carmelite monastery in the North of England. She was interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air in "A former nun explains why she ran away from her 'Cloistered' life" (43:53), where she talks about her artistic family background, how she found God and entered a monastery, her life there, how she left nunhood and her life after leaving the Carmelite order.
The interview is long, but students can get the support of the transcript, if they need to, so it can be accessible to C1 learners and above, who will come across interesting words like: cloistered, to be at rock bottom, to revolve around, to deprive of [something], to weave, to bounce off, gosh, hermit, monasticism, to draw [to], an arty [household], to go downhill, angst, hammer blow, bereavement, to be devastated, utterly [static], self-denial, the [monastic] rule, a matraque, a rattle, avant-garde, to plumb [the depths],
a manor [house], rambling, an outbuilding, stained-glass [windows], a flagstone, derelict, bare, stark, drafty, [windows] to rattle, a meadow, lino, distemper, a rite of passage, accoutrement, to trigger, to be dragged down, serge, encumbered, to stab, to tuck up, to glimpse, grille, to set up yourself as [different], a threshold, to lure, [to take] a vow, a prioress, [to give] carte blanche, free rein, a clique, coterie, a breakdown, to take it out on [somebody phisically], tempers [flying], to be carted, to crack up, bruised, to withhold, [to reach] breaking point, buoyancy, two-edged, a [peaceful] vibe, to simmer, to seethe, to flap, to bottle up [questions], buzzy [people], a rupture, a rift, flawed, a retreat, to be frowned upon.
If you want to watch Catherine Coldstream talking about her life experience and her book on YouTube, you can click on the link below: