I, Julian: The fictional autobiography of Julian of Norwich by Claire Gilbert
'So I will write in English, pressing new words from this beautiful plain language spoken by all. Not courtly French to introduce God politely. Not church Latin to construct arguments. English to show it as it is. Even though it is not safe to do so.'
From the author of Miles to Go before I Sleep comes I, Julian, the account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story, battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations to do so. Compelled by the powerful visions she had when close to death, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church - and to write of what she has seen. The result, passed from hand to hand, is the first book to be written by a woman in English. Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, Julian writes of her love for God, and God's love for the whole of creation. 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'
Book page: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/claire-gilbert/i-julian-the-fictional-autobiography-of-julian-of-norwich/9781399807524/
My Review:
O, guiding night; O, night more lovely than the dawn; O, night that hast united The lover with His beloved, And changed her into her love. (Dark Night of the Soul, Juan De la Cruz)
This are some verse from a poem by Juan de la Cruz and they are the best way to describe how I pictured Julian in this book. I’ve been thinking that women mystics’ are fascinating and exceptional women, women who chose to follow their spiritual instinct and often chose a different way of life. They often risked to be burned at stake as heretic. Julian, who wrote in English, could have shared the same fate of Marguerite Porrete who was burned at stake for her ideas and who wrote The Mirror of Simple Souls. Julian is one of the few mystics who wrote about her experience and her reflection. I re-read Revelations of Divine Love, the book written by Julian, before reading this novel and the fictional Julian and the historical Julian resonated in my mind. It’s not always an easy book and some of Julian’s reflect are quite removed from our experience. She lived centuries ago but her words, her spiritual experience can inspire and make us reflect now. There’s a lot of spiritual strength in this fictional Julian: an unusual woman with a need for me-time and a direct relationship with the Divine. Claire Gilbert knows what she’s talking about and her voice and Julian’s mixes and create a story that flows and kept me reading till late in the night. This is an excellent book, a book about an exceptional woman and her age. I was sad to read the last page as I loved this story and the characters. Many thanks to Hodder Faith, Rhoda Hardie for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.
The Author: Claire Gilbert is the author of I, Julian, a fictional autobiography of the 14th visionary Julian of Norwich. She wrote Miles To Go Before I Sleep, her first book under this name. She is Director of Westminster Abbey Institute and has published widely in applied ethics, including Justice in Public Life (2021); Letters from Lockdown: sustaining public service values during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020); Truth in Public Life (2020); Integrity in Public Life (2019); The Moral Heart of Public Service (2017). As Claire Foster she has published Sharing God’s Planet (2004) andThe Ethics of Medical Research on Humans (2001).
