The fourth novella I chose (via eeny meeny miney mo) for Novellas in November is about two real figures in Medieval literature, Margery Kempe and the anchoress Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich’s book Revelations of Divine Love is the first surviving book written by an English woman, and the book Kempe dictated (as she was illiterate), The Book of Margery Kempe, is the first-known autobiography in English.
The point of view alternates between Julian and Kempe. Both have experienced revelations, although at that time to do so was considered heretical. Julian experiences losses of everyone in her family and eventually decides she wants a life of contemplation. She becomes an anchoress, a woman who lives in a small room attached to a church, cemented in, the room with three windows—one to observe the church services, one to pass things back and forth with the maid, and one looking out on the street. People can talk to her but aren’t allowed to see or touch her.
Margery reacts to her revelations differently. She has had 12 children but doesn’t seem to like them or to like sex with her husband. Her point of view sounds like she has gone into permanent post-partum depression. She goes to the streets telling about Christ and sobbing loudly. She is several times examined for heresy. She disturbs church services and pilgrimages with her crying.
This book eventually leads up to an imagined meeting between the two women. It is well written and provides insight into the Medieval religious mindset and beliefs. Religion is seldom my cup of tea, though, so don’t ask me why I chose this book. I can’t remember.
What? Me Read? 
I have a copy of this and keep meaning to get to it. Running out of time for this year!
I know what you mean. Between Nonfiction November, Novellas in November, and Dean Street December, I’m having difficulty getting to my regular stacks of books. I intended to read one of the big honkers from my Classics Club list two months ago and still haven’t gotten to it!
Religion in Medieval times is whew – quite an interesting subject. I don’t know that this book would be my cup of tea; but it does sound intriguing!
I thought the perspective was interesting.
I read this a few years ago and liked it overall, but I’m not very interested in religion either so I don’t think I fully appreciated it.
I think that was me, too.
Also not interested in religion, so I think I’ll pass! The idea of being cemented into a cell sounds like something out of Poe…
It’s hard to imagine what kind of person would choose that life, but they did it. I wonder if anchorites were all women.
I know there were men who lived in caves or sat on top of pillars (which always seemed odd to me). But I can’t remember ever reading about a man who had himself walled up like that.
What do you want to bet there wasn’t one? I’ll look it up.
It says that most men chose to withdraw temporarily, but according to this book, anyway, she couldn’t change her mind once having had herself walled up. The Wikipedia article says women anchorites outnumbered men by four to one.
Interesting! Maybe women’s lives were already so restricted that it didn’t seem quite as drastic to them as it does to us.
Or maybe they just wanted to get away from their other lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorite
I’m not keen on religion and I am almost famously allergic to fictionalisations of real people’s lives … yet I bought this excitedly. However, I have yet to read it!
Good luck!
Thanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
Thanks for posting!