I picked up Canticle because I have a loose connection to the author, Janet Rich Edwards. Canticle takes place in the 13th century, detailing the incredible journey of a young woman, Aleys, turned Friar, then anchorite, then beguine. Prior to reading Canticle, the only one of those 4 things I’d heard of was Friar, but fortunately Edwards does an excellent job of making ancient religious denominations feel accessible. I was worried this might be dense and hard to read, but, while it’s not light reading, the story is smooth.

If you don’t know, an anchorite is a woman who chooses to live in a room attached to a church. Forever. In the room. Aleys chose a room, not much different than a cell, to escape a business marriage arranged by her father. Aleys might also be a saint. Sometimes, her hands vibrate and when Aleys lays them on an injured or ill person, the person is healed. But sometimes the magic leaves her. Even intermittently, the people of her village think Aleys a saint. And so they’ll visit her in the anchor room.

Overall, I enjoyed Canticle. There were a few sections in the middle that I would have liked to speed up, especially some of the weird things with Friar Lukas, but I was able to move through them with ease.

The ending is both devastating and filled with hope. It reminds us that women are strong, fierce and capable.

Recommended. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite quotes:
“They think she speaks with God. But really, everyone does. It’s just so hard to hear.”

“Or maybe that’s what makes you a saint: the ability to face the worst and pray, Thy will be done.”

I received a copy of Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards as an ARC from NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I will start this review by saying I honestly requested a copy when I saw the beautiful painting like type cover. It instantly drew my attention and I wanted to jump in and follow the young woman with the cloak on to see where she would lead me.

I am glad I followed as this young woman lead me into thirteenth century medieval Bruge, whilst she explored her journey as she changed her life path through faith, love and how she manages this in a world constrained so tightly by men.

Along the road, Aleys meets the independent and hard working Beguines, and witnesses interpretations of belief, community and love in new ways which helps further Aleys spirited transformation.

I did not realise the depth of the religious subject when I requested the ARC, but I found that I did not need to have a religious background or understanding to engage with the story, and I also did not feel that religion was pushed onto me. I thoroughly enjoyed opening my mind and eyes to Janet’s writing and spending time with a novel that I would not usually pick up.

Janet had clearly put so much effort into researching this point in time and it made an impact in how the story flowed. This reminded me of the importance of verbal story telling throughout our generations and the risk of loss of history without this.

One theme I followed throughout was the theme of room for doubt of a miracle or coincidence in people’s actions - for me it questioned the power of someone’s will or belief in themselves and can this produce wonders, or allow others to believe in possibilities.

I will keep an eye out for this being published and would definitely let others know that this is a book to consider picking up and reading!

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards is a historical fiction novel set in Bruges at the end of the 13th century. The story follows Aleys, the daughter of a draper and her ever-evolving connection to God. Her spiritual journey includes monastic life, fleeing marriages, miracles, and visions. Her story traces a path from saint to heretic, in the short span of a few years.

The story is told in a very atmospheric way, with an attention to details that really centers the reader in the time and place. Details of the medieval buildings, wool guilds, and pages from illustrated manuscripts are all rendered with careful, crafted detail. The author also gives a very elaborate insight into different monastic and lay communities, rites, and the challenges facing a deeply corrupted Catholic Church at the time. The author crafts a pre-reformation world of anchoresses, relic brokering bishops and miracles out on trial.

This book, like many that are based in ecclesiastical settings is ripe for intrigue, miracle, and supernatural events. However, like a lot of other books set in similar circumstances, it is painfully slow. The chapters are prayerful, reflective and self-reflective. Chapters pass with neither the story advancing an inch nor with faith mysteries revealed. The wheels of this story turn exceptionally slowly (including where she’s literally bricked into a cell, unable to feel her connection with God.)

Overall it’s a very unique choice of narrative setting with some very beautiful moments. People looking to get away from courtiers or WWII in the historical fiction space will enjoy the change in setting and new historical details. I would caution that for those who have literally no background in Catholic Church rites or history that this may be a deeper cut to start out with.

An enjoyable, if slow, read. 3.5/5 stars.

In 13th century Flanders Aleys, daughter of a wool draper, is enthralled by the stories in her mother's illuminated psalter. She listens to the sermons of a Franciscan Friar, Father Lukas and dreams of living the life of the Francisican nun, Saint Clare. Tragedy strikes twice for her family when her mother dies in childbirth and their store of wool is destroyed by moths. Aleys turns to God in prayer and is startled by the ecstasies and visions He sends her. When she teaches herself to read Latin, the words of the the psalter come alive and new worlds open as she vows never to marry, to dedicate herself to God. However, her family's growing poverty leads her father to decide to promise her in marriage to the wealthy Pieter Martens. In desperation. Aleys runs to Friar Lukas and he agrees to dedicate her as the first Franciscan nun in Bruges. As he has no nunnery to house her, she goes to live amongst the Beguine sisters. Grey clad self supporting women who take vows of Charity Chastity, and Simplicity, the Beguines are the subject of much local gossip and speculation. And as Aleys discovers, they harbor a dangerous secret: some of their members read Latin and are translating scripture into Dutch, strictly forbidden by Rome. The local bishop , Jaan Smetz, is determined to root out this heresy. Aleys is granted another grace by God: the power to heal the sick. Soon the eye of the Bishop and that of Rome are watching her, and the Beguines. Will God protect them from the Church, or must they offer up their very lives in his service , crushed by the men who serve themselves by claiming to serve Him? Canticle is an astonishing, immersive book full of detail that introduces the reader into the world of medieval Flanders and examines the lives and experiences of the women Mystics and nuns. It is a beautiful, classic story and a shining star of Historical fiction and Women's Studies. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. My opinions are my own.

Every time I read a book, a list of people I would recommend it to pops up in my head. This list turns shorter or longer as the reading goes on, but there are three people that are almost permanent in this imaginary list: my husband, my brother and my grandma - bear with me on this explanation, it’ll make sense once I get there.

My husband (who averts my book recommendations like the plague although it doesn't stop me from nagging him endlessly), my brother (who adds everything I recommend to his TBR) and my grandma (the one responsible for my reading-driven DNA) who devours books no matter what.

And now I’ll get to the point, because what I want you to understand is that while reading Canticle, my husband and my brother - permanent residents of my mental recommendation list - weren’t there. And then I realized why.

Canticle is a book about rights freely given to men but denied to women since the dawn of time: voice, faith and choice. It’s a book that shows you how everything is political when you’re a woman and how much it can be taken away even though you had nothing to start with. It’s a book that holds a silent rage and the soul of a revolution vibrating under the majestic prose of Janet Rich Edwards (girl, you weave dangerous poetry!). And even though I think men should be the ones absorbing this reading like a hornbook, there’s an underneath language which only women will be able to translate.

This is easily my top 3 books I cried the most while reading. Not just for the masterfully crafted writing, the beautifully built characters or the deep emotional themes, but because I’m a woman and the fact that I’m able to READ at all is a skill paid with the blood of so many brave women like the ones in this book: women with sharp minds and sensitive souls, with fragile bodies but iron resilience, who gave up their lives for our right to read, pray and speak up. I can still feel my tears welling up as I write this in a mix of sorrow for the struggle of so many women who still fight for their right to perform their faith and express themselves and the thankfulness for the ones who reached their goals and paved the way.

I know this was a review written with my heart on my fingertips, but for the readers who need a rational convincing, I’ll let you know this book is a Babel meets Joanne D’Arc but instead of swords we have quills. I thought Babel would be my forever favorite book about translating and then Canticle came in like a storm and made me cry my heart out in the middle of the night while mourning both its message and its ending.

Canticle became one of my favorite books of all times, and I’m still gonna think about that one specific scene that made me bawl my eyes out and tattooed itself in my soul. I’m definitely gonna recommend it to every person I know no matter their gender (prepare yourselves for the incessant nagging), for if we don’t use books to transform the ways we think and feel, there’s nothing much left.

But girls, my sisters in alphabetization, you have no idea the treat that’s about to cross your path.

4.25

**spoilers ahead** !!

Canticle explores medieval Bruges, dealing heavily with religion, politics, and the role of women in society. I've been on a bit of a medieval kick ever since visiting a "Medieval Women" exhibit in London last year, and this book was the perfect fix. It was so obviously well researched and I was really drawn into the story. The beguines and anchorites were especially fascinating to read about. The time the novel spent with the beguines was some of my favorite moments, as the very act of them living their lives felt like an act of defiance, let alone their translations of the Bible into Dutch.

At times, especially in the first half of the book, I did find myself feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the "God my lover, my bridegroom" talk from Aleys (though obviously it makes sense for her character). I kind of wish Marte's POV had been introduced earlier, because I absolutely loved her perspective and it helped to balance out more of the extreme devoutness from Aleys. I think one of my favorite parts of the book is <spoiler>when Marte rewrites bible stories from the women's perspective. It was so powerful reading her version of Lot, because, yeah that does sound a lot more like what would happen!! </spoiler> For me personally, the second half of the book is where it truly starts to pick up and became a non-stop read.

The characters were so fleshed out and their choices believable for them, even if I cannot personally fathom locking myself into a small room for the rest of my life. Lukas' character arc was done extremely well, and that one scene genuinely scared me. Even the bishop I enjoyed reading about, especially as you start off believing he's just this one-dimensional power hungry man who loves nothing, but then you discover he deeply loves his brother and would go far to protect him.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I thought the overall message of Canticle was beautiful. Plus learning in the acknowledgements that some of the showings Aleys received were from actual, real-life medieval mystics was stunning. To think they were so far ahead of their time simply in thinking that God is love, that people should be able to read the Bible for themselves, and that they were often punished for those beliefs, is heartbreaking and inspiring (and I am not even religious)!

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this. I'm very impressed by this debut from the author and look forward to anything else she writes in the future! Thanks to Netgalley and Spiegel & Grau for the arc!

While this book deals with the subject of religion, it is not a religious book. Instead, it is an exploration into the agency of women in medieval Bruges. A setting in which Christianity and men greatly constrained how women could live their life.

Throughout the novel, Edwards makes it a point to plainly highlight the moments where Aleys was limited based off the patriarchal systems in which she was born (Bruges) and in which she chose to devote her life to (the church). Clearly well researched, this provided me valuable insight into what life would be like for a woman of that time.

In addition to being well-researched, this book was also well-written! Edwards is such a phenomenal writer that I had to keep checking to make sure that this was her debut novel. I am blown away by her writing style and ability to craft such a compelling/somewhat unexpected plot.

Furthermore, I felt that every decision made by the main cast followed a logical progression of their character. Even while characters made shocking decisions, I felt that I could understand why they did what they did. To me, this is the sign of a great writer, someone who can really make you believe in the growth of a character over the course of a novel.

Really, the only thing that I didn’t love was that the Bishop felt a little too much like a two-dimensional mustache-twirling villain. This didn’t significantly take away from my enjoyment of the book, but his sections were a little jarring to read. Especially since so many of the other perspective characters were so well built out.

Now, here’s the part where I am going to be a bit more specific with my review. I will try to avoid any major spoilers in the paragraphs below, but read at your own risk.

I liked how the author touches upon the consequences (not necessarily dangers) of fanaticism. Aleys turns away from her family, greatly harming their station and relationship with Aleys. While she feels justified at every step, her original decisions are innately selfish. Even her becoming an anchoress is selfish at its core. Only at the end of the book do I believe she understands what it means to make a selfless decision. Meanwhile, the Friar takes on a different form of fanaticism that causes him to bring harm someone he once held dear. However, the difference is that at the end of the story, one of these characters would proudly repeat their actions, while the other is full of shame with what had been done.

I also liked how in this book, there’s room for doubt over if what is happening is a miracle or coincidence. It makes you wonder if this novel is supposed to fit into the magical realism genre or historical fiction. Either way, what ends up being important in the end, is how the characters choose to interpret the events in this novel.

Overall, this book was a bit different than what I had expected going in, but was still an engaging read. While I often hesitate to compare one book to another, “Canticle” fondly reminds me of “The Book of Longings.” One thing to note, while I don’t think this is a religious book in the sense I don’t believe the author was trying to proselytize in any way, this book heavily deals with Christianity as that was what life in Medieval Bruges was centered around. If you are comfortable with that subject matter, then I would absolutely say that this book is worth a read!

This debut novel written by Janet Rich Edwards is indeed an eye opener and recommended to anyone who is having thoughts of a spiritual awakening. I for one picked it up because the summary sounded fascinating and I figured it would be an interesting read. I was right about it being interesting I just didn’t know that I would literally be begging for more when I finished it.
Set against the backdrop of the middle ages our main character Aleys is a child with a loving family. Her mother has taught her and her siblings the importance of god and faith. After her mothers tragic death in childbirth she makes a vow never to marry or have children but at the same time she can't see herself becoming a nun.
Many years later she has grown up and is still set in her ways. However one day her father announces she will marry. Aleys who doesn't want to follow through with the whole ordeal realizes that she has only one other choice. the night before the wedding she makes a brave move and runs away to a monastery. From there she will begin her spiritual journey and meet some influential people along the way. Some of these people will have good intentions while others not so good.
I received an ARC copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

Aleys grows up in a happy, comfortable wool family in Bruges. Her mother , whom she adores, owns an exquisite prayer book with jewel bright illustrations and tells Aleys saints’ stories, particularly those about powerful women even though she cannot read. So begins this absorbing, well-crafted story about a young woman’s journey away from marriage and the danger of childbirth to becoming a storyteller and light-filled, yearning and passionate mystic. Author, Janet Rich Edwards, gently constructs the limited and controlled world of being a woman in the Middle Ages as we watch socially awkward, intellectually curious Aleys stumble against rules invented to maintain the hegemony of the church.

Aleys’ life becomes entwined with the extraordinary ‘Beguines’. I loved the idea of the Beguines, a self-sustaining, women only community living spiritual, industrious lives with no church affiliation and the freedom to work in the hospital and marketplace and live within Bruges. The Begijnhof is a place of peace and female sanctuary. Character development is strong and believable and even the characters not at the heart of this story are interesting and often very likeable. Sisterhood, literacy and the need to work together to support other women is a central theme. Another is the translation of the bible into the locally spoken language, seen as a huge threat by the church. So when stories, like that of Lot’s wife, are retold by a woman, in Dutch, questioning the message of the received text, framing it through the female lived experience, the church seeks to crush that story and the women behind it.

This is a far richer, literary and philosophical experience than I expected from the cover, and I found the immersive descriptions of Bruges’ life and Aleys’ visions enriched my understanding of Medieval life and gave context to the beautifully researched anchorites, beguines, and other religious orders that were flourishing when Belief as a way of life. Breezy wide lowland skies, abundant nature and the scent of the changing seasons, washing snapping on the lines, wool carded like prayer, soft and smelling of grass and sheep dung, the sensory texture of the writing is also hugely satisfying. I hope this jewel of a book reaches the right readers.

I would like to preface this by saying I don’t believe I am the intended audience for this book. I thought this story was well written and well crafted and it felt like the author truly researched and understood their work. The emotions were showcased well, and the characters were for the most part well developed. I am not sure what emotion I was supposed to feel at the end of this book, but the one I did feel was anger. I try to separate my feelings on the subject matter and the book itself, but it is hard when it paints it as I see it. Though, my glasses may be tinted, haha. I think the best part of this book is the highlight on searching for God vs searching to be chosen by God. I am going to rate this more on the skill of writing and story development because I just think I am the wrong audience.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Spiegel & Grau for the Ebook ARC I received. Usually I make it a point to avoid books that have anything to do with religion or spirituality, but the historical fiction premise was alluring and I'm so glad I went against my usual prejudices. I didn't want to put this book down.

Aleys is a sixteen-year-old girl in the thirteenth-century who experiences visions and chooses a religious life over marriage. Throughout the story, she builds relationships with a variety of different people and most of them are fleshed out very well. Edwards explored the personalities of each of her characters without letting anyone become a caricature. The antagonists are not one-dimensional, the dialogue felt real and downright funny (particularly Aleys listening to the chatter of some of the other girls), and the conscious decision to use modern language helped the story flow well. The sorrow, disgust, joy...nearly every emotion the characters felt was palpable. I wasn't conscious of my facial expressions while reading until one of my children asked me what in the world was happening in the book. I won't spoil it, but let's just say the sacrifice of Isaac was referred to, and I appreciated Merte's take on it. There is one particularly grotesque part that I was not expecting, but unfortunately it was not out of the realm of possibility for the character.

Some of the characters were not explored as deeply as others, such as Aleys' sister, brothers and father. It made sense as they didn't need to play pivotal parts in the book, but I would've liked to see more of her time with her sister. Even just a short chapter from her sister's point of view toward the end of the book would've been lovely.

For people who didn't spend time growing up in church, the frequent references to Christ as a bridegroom and some of the choices Aleys makes may seem downright insane. However, Edwards did an exceptional job showing the reasons why Aleys might decide on the things she chooses, based on the few choices women had at the time. I really appreciated that while Aleys was pursuing God throughout the book, I didn't feel like I was being preached at or encouraged to examine my own faith. I came away from the book feeling as though I read a beautiful historical fiction that focused on the relationships we build with people and how we can find God (or just fulfillment, for those of us who don't believe in God) in being kind to one another. I will absolutely be waiting for this book to come out in December so I can buy the physical copy and read it again/loan it out.