Ask the Author: Janet Rich Edwards
Answered Questions (7)
Janet Rich Edwards
Dear Etta,
What a wonderful question. The germ of the story was my lifelong fascination with the writings of medieval mystics. They were (and are) meaningful to me because of their unfiltered nature - uninterpreted through the lens of human institutions. I was intrigued by a character so devoted to her quest that she would become an anchoress. But then, as I added the layers of other characters, I became at least as interested in how Aleys affected and was affected by the spiritual lives of the people around her. I wanted to write Lukas as an equally earnest counterpoint to Aleys, so that I could explore the tragic role of ambition and ego in the spiritual quest. (Mystics universally speak of the necessity of letting go of the self.) I valued the path of service of the beguines and loved that Aleys was finally able to learn from Sophia. If there's a moral to the story, I think it is Sophia's 'Try to be simple.' So, really, the motivation of the story evolved as I wrote. The writing was something of an act of seeking for me as well as my characters! Thank you for your enthusiasm for Canticle and for a great question!
What a wonderful question. The germ of the story was my lifelong fascination with the writings of medieval mystics. They were (and are) meaningful to me because of their unfiltered nature - uninterpreted through the lens of human institutions. I was intrigued by a character so devoted to her quest that she would become an anchoress. But then, as I added the layers of other characters, I became at least as interested in how Aleys affected and was affected by the spiritual lives of the people around her. I wanted to write Lukas as an equally earnest counterpoint to Aleys, so that I could explore the tragic role of ambition and ego in the spiritual quest. (Mystics universally speak of the necessity of letting go of the self.) I valued the path of service of the beguines and loved that Aleys was finally able to learn from Sophia. If there's a moral to the story, I think it is Sophia's 'Try to be simple.' So, really, the motivation of the story evolved as I wrote. The writing was something of an act of seeking for me as well as my characters! Thank you for your enthusiasm for Canticle and for a great question!
Janet Rich Edwards
Dear W.J., Thank you for the note of praise, and from a fellow historical fiction writer, no less! I just checked out your website and am so impressed - five novels! I should get tips from you. I see yours are focused on medieval England and admired the photo of you at Stonehenge. I had a fabulous trip last summer (doing a little research for an early modern English plotline for my next story) and got a chance to go 'champing' (church camping) and spend the night on my own in a medieval church. If you head back and are so inclined, it's a lot of fun. (champing.co.uk) Thank you for your kind note! Hopefully, if Canticle goes to paperback, I'll be visiting a bookstore near you this year!
Janet Rich Edwards
Thanks, Diane. You really hit on what fascinated me about that moment in history, when you have an all powerful (and pretty corrupt) church at the same time you have a run of medieval mystics (mostly women) who are claiming divine showings that quite often seem at odds with the official church doctrine. It was in researching one such woman - Marguerite Porete, who wrote and died for a beautiful, radical manuscript, The Mirror of Simple Souls - that I bumped into the beguines. I'd never heard of them. The more I learned, the more it felt wrong that they were largely unknown. Here were women making the radical choice to band together and worship in their own fashion, refusing the 'rule' of the church (under which convents were regulated). Plus, they were in league with the Franciscans and Dominicans who had created protest movements trying to renew religion by harking back to the basic message of Christ. There was so much going on in this time and place that fascinated me - I just to set some characters in motion there!
Janet Rich Edwards
Hi Kate - great question! Yes, women could (and can) join the Franciscans as Franciscan Sisters (who live vowed lives in the community), as one of the Poor Clares (who live an enclosed, monastic life) or as members of 'third order' or lay branches who engage in apostolic works. The Franciscans were founded in (what is now) Italy early in the 13th century and had spread throughout Europe by the time Canticle starts, but the women's orders were slower to spread - so Aleys could have heard of Franciscan sisters in other lands without knowing much about them.
Janet Rich Edwards
Hi Agnes! Sorry it took me a beat to answer - I was traveling without laptop and you can only answer these questions from a computer. Honest answer: there were so many moments, both as the research revealed surprises and as the story itself forced me to dig deeper to understand the characters. For starters, I marvel at the risks that the historical mystics and beguines took; Aleys was inspired by Marguerite Porete, who chose death at the stake over recanting her mystical book. And the beguines made me appreciate that heroes come in all varieties, including not just those we hear about, but also all the 'quiet' heroes who resist simply by living life on their own terms and helping each other. I was surprised and inspired at every turn. I wrote a bit about that here, if you're interested: https://lithub.com/the-radical-write-...
Thanks for the question! I hope Canticle surprised you and made you see the world a little differently for yourself!
Thanks for the question! I hope Canticle surprised you and made you see the world a little differently for yourself!
Janet Rich Edwards
Yes! (In fact, your question came in as we were putting the finishing touches on the book group guide, which includes medieval recipes and a playlist!) I'm eager to connect with readers, and looking forward to joining book clubs in person if they're in the Boston area or by zoom if they're not. If you're interested, email me at jredwardsauthor@gmail.com.
Janet Rich Edwards
Hi Moms Reading (great name; I said that to my own kids many a time). To my knowledge, there's just one other novel about beguines, 'Sisters Between: A Novel of the Beguines,' written in 2013 my Molly Connally. For those interested in diving into the history, I relied heavily on Walter Simons' 'Cities of Ladies: Beguine Communities in the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565' as background research (and Prof Simons was kind enough to correspond re. my many questions). An accessible history might be 'The Wisdom of the Beguines: The Forgotten Story of Medieval Women's Movement' by Laura Swan, published in 2016 (which you can get as a paperback). I find the beguines fascinating - I'm glad you do too!
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Thank you for sharing that beautiful insight into how the story became an act of seeking for you. The evolution from Aleys's solitary devot ...more
37 minutes ago