Even though historians all agree that Maria Monk's claims are false, the book is still interesting to read. Maria Monk may have been a 19th century nun who had several sexual liaisons, while in the convent. She or a ghostwriter wrote Awful Disclosures about these experiences. Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, or, The Hidden Secrets of a Nun's Life in a Convent Exposed was published in 1836. She claimed that Sisters of Charity of a Montreal convent were forced to have sex with the priests from the seminary next door. She said there was a secret tunnel connecting the two. If a baby resulted, it was baptized and then strangled and put in a lime pit in the basement.