In the hills of Hollywood, California, a cluster of uniform, nondescript white buildings with red-tiled roofs isn’t eye-catching from the street, especially behind high cement walls. But this is home for Dominican nuns, cloistered inside this Catholic monastery.

Author Maura Weiler researched cloistered nuns for her new book “Contrition,” a fictional tale about two sisters separated at birth — one, a talented artist, who is a cloistered nun with a vow of silence.

Inside the Hollywood monastery, Sister Mary Pia explains what life is like as a real cloistered nun at the Monastery of the Angels.

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