In 1585, Catalina de Erauso escaped a convent dressed as a boy. During her lifetime she became a soldier in the Spanish army, killed her own brother, and managed to become the darling of the Pope and the Spanish-speaking world. "A rollicking, swashbuckling tale". LOS ANGELES TIMES.

In 1585, Catalina de Erauso escaped a convent dressed as a boy. During her lifetime she became a soldier in the Spanish army, killed her own brother, and managed to become the darling of the Pope and the Spanish-speaking world. "A rollicking, swashbuckling tale". LOS ANGELES TIMES.

Named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 1996

One of the earliest known autobiographies by a woman, this is the extraordinary tale of Catalina de Erauso, who in 1599 escaped from a Basque convent dressed as a man and went on to live one of the most wildly fantastic lives of any woman in history. A soldier in the Spanish army, she traveled to Peru and Chile, became a gambler, and even mistakenly killed her own brother in a duel. During her lifetime she emerged as the adored folkloric hero of the Spanish-speaking world. This delightful translation of Catalina's own work introduces a new audience to her audacious escapades.