The idea of a cloistered life strikes some as one of severity and silence, of running away from a broken heart or a broken life. But as Toni Greaves discovered when she visited a community of cloistered nuns in New Jersey, it was a joyful embrace of a life that is in many ways countercultural given the me-first society that lurks beyond the convent’s walls.

At the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary, the subject of her book “Radical Love,” she found women who despite having other chances for work, love and life in the secular world had embraced a simpler existence of prayer, study and meditation. A good number of them were young and learned about the religious life online, choosing to join a community of some 20 nuns at the Summit, N.J., cloister.

“We think of monasteries as these quiet places, and they are quiet, but I was surprised by the happiness, joy and love I saw there,” Ms. Greaves said. “We tend to think of these young nuns as having given something up, but what I saw was the opposite. It’s like being around a bunch of young women who were in love.”

That love was evident in the face of Lauren Franko, a 21-year-old novice whom Ms. Greaves met when she first visited the cloister in 2008. Sister Lauren was among five young women whom Ms. Greaves encountered on that first visit, when she thought she might do a story about the novices who found their vocation online (the cloister has a web page and a social media presence).

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Ms. Greaves had thought her visit was a one-off. But she was struck by the life she encountered that first day and soon asked the prioress about staying longer and doing a project. Seeing the enthusiasm of the five novices — called Bluebirds for the color of their habits — she was increasingly drawn to Sister Lauren’s story, realizing her experiences would provide the backbone for a narrative.

“Before she entered she had been in college, had a boyfriend and plans for marriage and children,” Ms. Greaves said. “The way she tells it, she was in her dorm room and went to YouTube to find her favorite song. Instead of the song coming on, she heard the words ‘Will you marry me.’ She turned it off and cried and said ‘Yes,’ because for her it felt like it was her proposal from God.”

Ms. Greaves’s encounter with Sister Lauren came at a time when she was on a quest of sorts, too. Her mother’s death in 2004 had affected her deeply, prompting her to ask some essential questions about life and whatever might be beyond. That led her to a fascination with spiritual communities, which she felt “held the greatest potential for a concentrated spiritual connection.”

Once she was into her project, Ms. Greaves visited often, staying up to four days at a time in a small guest room, and was allowed to go about the cloister. She would get up at 5:20 in the morning, the first of seven times the nuns gathered for prayer. Their days were taken with study and prayer and various tasks (where they also meditated and prayed). There are two recreational periods, during which the younger nuns would play sports (and in at least one memorable image, make a snow angel one winter).

Although people might wonder why someone would choose a cloister in an age when nuns take on many different roles and jobs outside the convent — from running colleges to providing social services — Ms. Greaves learned that it offered its own allure.

“There are nuns who are out helping people in the world,” she said. “These nuns feel those nuns can help some people. But they feel by being in the cloister and dedicating their lives to prayer, they can help all souls.”

In the course of her project, Ms. Greaves was there to mark the milestones in Sister Lauren’s life: from the day she got her white habit and religious name — Sister Maria Teresa — to her final vows. Ms. Greaves still returns to the monastery to visit people she now considers friends, still seeing the joy that comes from finding what they love and were meant to do.

“That’s one of the things about long-term projects, the connections and relationships over time,” Ms. Greaves said. “To see her mature and see how she has become who she is. Over the years I got to see her grow into herself. She is very solid in her path and where she is in life. This is her life.”

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