‘Julian of Norwich was a woman for her turbulent times, whose hard-won insight into the mystery of God’s love for humanity brought pilgrims of all kinds to seek her wise and compassionate counsel, and whose writings about that love have sustained many more down the centuries. Through Claire Foster-Gilbert’s powerful telling of her story, the reader in our own turbulent times can encounter Julian personally and also gain re-assurance that all will indeed ultimately “be well”.’

Sister Jane Livesey CJ, former General Superior of the Congregation of Jesus.

‘I was completely hooked and considerably moved by the life and thoughts of this exceptional woman, who seemed in many instances to be writing about what seems to be happening around us today.  So much so that Julian’s life and revelations have strong reverberations for the reader, and seem completely relevant.  This is a book which shows how your research meshed with your own spiritual understanding can speak clear as a bell to the world we live in today.’

Jeremy Irons

'I enjoyed and admired I, Julian very much.  It is extraordinarily deft and sensitive. This book is going to introduce many new readers to Julian and inspire others who know her slightly to go back with fresh eyes and a reinvigorated sense of how her writing developed and in what sort of historical setting.  It really is a striking book, and an impressive achievement.’

Nicholas Watson, Harvard University

‘Claire Foster-Gilbert inhabits Julian of Norwich in the way that Hilary Mantel immersed herself in Cromwell. This is living fiction.’  

Sarah Sands

‘What a wonderful book! It is as if we have finally found the lost autobiography of one of the medieval world's most important women. Julian’s voice rings out true on every page and a deep understanding of her world and her work underpins each line. It is a joy to read.'

Janina Ramirez, historian, author and broadcaster, Oxford University

‘There have been a few other writers who have tried to fill out the human hinterland of Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love?, but I can't think of any who have done so quite as persuasively and richly as this. Written with profound insight, spiritual and psychological, and a rare sensitivity to the everyday world of the fourteenth century, it is a brilliantly illuminating companion to one of the greatest works of spiritual writing in English.’

Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge

‘I, Julian, is a tour de force, a rich reimagining of the life of Julian of Norwich and a disturbing evocation of the life of the merchant class in Norwich in the fourteenth century, bedevilled by plague, loss, fear and religious bullying. Julian emerges as her own woman, with control over her own destiny, with passion and love and fear and loss all intertwined, and a determination to tell her secret story.’

Julia Neuberger

‘One of the great values of storytelling is that it allows us to ask a whole range of questions that otherwise would remain unasked and unanswered.  This story told from the perspective of the medieval mystic, Julian, brings to life not just Julian herself but the world in which she lived, her family and other relationships.  It also reflects on her inner life and what fed her spiritually.  This is a rich and intriguing book, which is profoundly thought-provoking and helps the reader to get to know Julian in an entirely new way.’

Paula Gooder

‘Steeped in Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love, and based on careful historical research, this fictional recreation of Julian’s life is both gripping and profoundly believable.’

Santha Bhattacharji, Fellow Emeritus, St Benet’s Hall, University of Oxford 

‘This is a wondrous, touching work of imagination. Claire Gilbert has miraculously stepped inside the body, and soul, of Julian of Norwich, through her extraordinary life. Its method strongly reminded me of Maggie O’Farrell’s ‘Hamnet’.

Rt Hon Jack Straw

‘Little is known about the particular life of Julian of Norwich but much is known of her times. On the basis of these Claire Gilbert has given us a beautiful imagining of what the young Julian would have known and faced in 15th England, woven around the author’s deep understanding of Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love. With this ‘imagined autobiography’ Claire Foster-Gilbert gives all those who love the writings of Julian of Norwich a delightful way into Julian’s life and times.

Janet Soskice

‘I hadn’t known anything about Julian of Norwich before I read Claire Gilbert’s book I, Julian.  I was on holiday and I couldn’t put it down.  Her life really moved me and uplifted me.  God’s love came through so clearly in the book and it felt so relevant for today.’

Georgina Howard (former Duchess of Norfolk)

‘A life and a time so convincingly summoned that it’s hard to believe this is a work of fiction, proof that the imagination can be just as true as the truth.’

Frances Stonor Saunders