Julian's Cell

the long version

'Julian's Cell' is a unique work of historical fiction, an attempt to imagine Julian of Norwich's life as it could have been--this is history made alive through the storyteller's art. It is the earthy story of "Katherine"--daughter of a stern and bitter mother. Married at age 16 to a man named Walter, she loses both her children and her husband during the great plagues. She has visions of the passion of Christ and becomes an anchorite; "buried alive" in a cell attached to St. Julian's church, she leads a life devoted to prayer and spiritual counsel. Today she is known as Mother Julian, or Julian of Norwich, the first woman to write a book in the English language, and one of the greatest Christian theologians and mystics of all time. (Back cover).