Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife

' A fascinating book about four women - it tells us so much about their world, and about our own… What jumps off the page is the liveliness of the women , their passion, their courage and their own way of being... ' PHILIPPA GREGORY, author of The Other Boleyn Girl and Normal Women ' Brilliantly revealing' Observer 'A celebration of female ambition and endeavour... enormous fun' The Sunday Times A spectacular, vivid, groundbreaking work of history which takes us into the minds and lives of medieval women. What was life really like for women in the medieval period? How did they think about sex, death and God? Could they live independent lives? And how can we hear their stories? Few women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings during medieval times. But remarkably, there are at least four extraordinary women who did. Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a "no-good wife". In their own ways these four very different writers pushed back against the misogyny of the period. Each broke new ground in women’s writing and left us incredible insights into the world of medieval life and politics. Hetta Howes has spent her working life uncovering these women’s stories to give us a valuable and unique historical biography of their lives that challenges what we think we know about medieval women in Europe. Women did earn money, they could live independent lives, and they thought, loved, fought and suffered just as we do today. This mesmerizing book is an unforgettably lively and immersive journey into the everyday lives of medieval women through the stories of these four iconic women writers, some of which are retold here for general readers for the first time. ' Full of surprises and packed with thrilling details, this is an important, eye-opening book.' ALICE LOXTON, author of Eighteen and Uproar! ' This meticulously researched book makes visible so much that popular models of medieval life have found inconvenient or uninteresting to accommodate' NOREEN MASUD, author of A Flat Place - shortlisted for Women's Prize ' Hetta Howes unflinchingly explores the trials medieval women faced and, importantly, how they fought back.' TABITHA STANMORE, author of Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic ' Vivid, deeply researched, and addictively readable' IRINA DUMITRESCU, Professor of English Medieval Studies at the University of Bonn and co-host of Medieval LOLs 'Spirited, sparky' ANTHONY BALE, author of A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages

' A fascinating book about four women - it tells us so much about their world, and about our own… What jumps off the page is the liveliness of the women , their passion, their courage and their own way of being... ' PHILIPPA GREGORY, author of The Other Boleyn Girl and Normal Women ' Brilliantly revealing' Observer 'A celebration of female ambition and endeavour... enormous fun' The Sunday Times A spectacular, vivid, groundbreaking work of history which takes us into the minds and lives of medieval women. What was life really like for women in the medieval period? How did they think about sex, death and God? Could they live independent lives? And how can we hear their stories? Few women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings during medieval times. But remarkably, there are at least four extraordinary women who did. Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a "no-good wife". In their own ways these four very different writers pushed back against the misogyny of the period. Each broke new ground in women’s writing and left us incredible insights into the world of medieval life and politics. Hetta Howes has spent her working life uncovering these women’s stories to give us a valuable and unique historical biography of their lives that challenges what we think we know about medieval women in Europe. Women did earn money, they could live independent lives, and they thought, loved, fought and suffered just as we do today. This mesmerizing book is an unforgettably lively and immersive journey into the everyday lives of medieval women through the stories of these four iconic women writers, some of which are retold here for general readers for the first time. ' Full of surprises and packed with thrilling details, this is an important, eye-opening book.' ALICE LOXTON, author of Eighteen and Uproar! ' This meticulously researched book makes visible so much that popular models of medieval life have found inconvenient or uninteresting to accommodate' NOREEN MASUD, author of A Flat Place - shortlisted for Women's Prize ' Hetta Howes unflinchingly explores the trials medieval women faced and, importantly, how they fought back.' TABITHA STANMORE, author of Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic ' Vivid, deeply researched, and addictively readable' IRINA DUMITRESCU, Professor of English Medieval Studies at the University of Bonn and co-host of Medieval LOLs 'Spirited, sparky' ANTHONY BALE, author of A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages

An invaluable reassessment of what we think we know about the daily lives of women in medieval Europe. Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife charts the lives and times of four medieval women writers--Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a no-good wife--who all bucked convention and forged their own paths. Largely forgotten by modern readers, these women have an astonishing amount to teach us about love, marriage, motherhood, friendship, and earning a living. Reading the words of these four writers, Hetta Howes engagingly reveals how everyday women lived, survived, and thrived in medieval times. Who did they marry and why? Did they ever have extramarital affairs? Could they earn money and become self-sufficient? Could they be leaders? What did they think about death--and what about life and their place in it? Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife paints a vibrant portrait of these women, their world, and the ways they speak to us today.

An invaluable reassessment of what we think we know about the daily lives of women in medieval Europe. Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife charts the lives and times of four medieval women writers--Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a no-good wife--who all bucked convention and forged their own paths. Largely forgotten by modern readers, these women have an astonishing amount to teach us about love, marriage, motherhood, friendship, and earning a living. Reading the words of these four writers, Hetta Howes engagingly reveals how everyday women lived, survived, and thrived in medieval times. Who did they marry and why? Did they ever have extramarital affairs? Could they earn money and become self-sufficient? Could they be leaders? What did they think about death--and what about life and their place in it? Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife paints a vibrant portrait of these women, their world, and the ways they speak to us today.