Some of the dropouts from late antique society, whom we know as "Desert Fathers," have remained role models for an unconventional life over the ages, like Anthony the Great. What few people know today is that there were also women who lived as "Desert Mothers." Syncletica, Melania, Maria of Egypt, and their companions endured solitude with themselves and were able to become sought-after spiritual companions for their contemporaries, and they still have much to say to us today. "I am pleased that Gabriele Ziegler is bringing the Desert Mothers out of obscurity and translating their message for our time. The Desert Mothers can show us today that we can only speak rightly of God and humanity when we do so from the perspective of both man and woman." Anselm Grün.