Julian's Cell: The Earthly Story of Julian of Norwich

by Ralph Milton

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 the earthy story of "Katherine" - daughter of a stern and bitter mother. Married at age 16 to 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 - she is "buried alive" in a cell attached to St. Julian's church to lead a life devoted to prayer and spiritual counsel. Today she is known as Mother Julian, or Julian of Norwich, the first woman to write in the English language, and one of the greatest Christian theologians and mystics of all time.

Genres: Spirituality, History

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Katherine Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julian's Cell is the author's imagined life of Julian of Norwich. Whether or not he's got the details right is not important (and we'll never know), because this is a great story of the time period and the religious stirrings that were occurring around Julian. It was interesting to see how many like-minded people the author chose to surround Julian with, people with whom she could converse and share her ideas with. Great read.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how historically accurate this imagined biography of Julian of Norwich is. But I enjoyed it. It was interesting to read at the same time as the Joan of Arc biography to get a slightly earlier, English perspective of what was happening in the church.

[Mary Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent historical novel about the life of Julian of Norwich. Very good research by the author.

[Catherine Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting historical novel. Lovely story of a mystic and feminist saint who was born in 1342.