As I'm not Catholic I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I still found it to be meaningful. The author intermixed stories from her life and personal struggles with perfectionism with stories of Catholic saints who faced similar challenges. Anyone looking to learn to give themselves (and others) more grace will find something meaningful in this book.

Colleen Carroll Campbell not only told me I was a perfectionist (which I didn't know, and couldn't believe) but illustrated the way to escape the trap of perfectionism. Her candor, vulnerability, and joy drew me in as a reader and will draw you in as well.

I decided to read The Heart of Perfection because of my own perfectionistic tendencies. Colleen Carroll Campbell is an excellent writer so I enjoyed this book as a literary experience in addition to the content provided. I enjoy memoirs and learning about the author’s own story when reading non-fiction. Campbell interspersed her own stories of struggles with perfectionism along with biographies of a number of saints. The story of how she was helped to overcome her perfectionism through learning from these saints was very encouraging to my perfectionistic heart.

Although Campbell is Roman Catholic and this book assumes the readers are as well, I think it would also be useful to Protestants. As a Protestant myself, I was not familiar with most of the saints she presents in the book. But they were very real people with real struggles who learned though their lives to become closer to God and to inspire others. As a Protestant I don’t revere the saints as Roman Catholics do, but I can still learn from their lives and teachings.

This book inspired me to learn more about many of these saints as well as giving me ideas for overcoming perfectionism. I recommend it to those interested in growth as Christians regardless of denomination.