Lieutenant Nun is the story of Catalina de Erauso. Erauso starts her life as the daughter of a wealthy Basque family in San Sabastian, Guipúzcoa, Spain. At the age of four she was placed in a Dominican convent where she would stay until she either got a marriage proposal or became a nun. At fifteen years old she was faced with having to become a nun and elected, instead, to run away; which she does as a man. Erauso drifts between jobs, working for a time as a page for the king’s secretary before signing up as a ship’s boy, bound for the new world. During this time she meets her father, her mother and her uncle (whose ship she signed up on) and none recognize her. When her uncle’s ship lands in the New World, Erauso steals some of his money then jumps ship for Panama. Behind her she leaves a string of jobs and a great deal of violence. She also experiences a number of awkward encounters with women over whom she seems torn as she enjoys the attention but doesn’t want to be locked down by a marriage (also it would reveal her true sex ). …show more content…
Erauso’s violent demeanor gains her commendation on the battlefield but gets her in trouble with the law. At one point, while being a second for her friends duel, she unknowingly shoots and kills her brother. As she has done a number of times in the past, she leaves in an attempt to escape the law. Wandering, she spends time with deserters and then is rescued from starvation by a half-Indian woman. She is then caught between two marriage proposals between the woman and a local vicar but, as with her uncle, simply takes the wedding gifts and