Lay Siege to Heaven: A Novel About Saint Catherine of Siena

by Louis de Wohl

Continuing his popular series of novels about saints of the Church, de Wohl devotes his considerable talents to an interpretation of one of the most unusual women of all time, Saint Catherine of Siena. The daughter of a prosperous dyer in fourteenth- century Siena, Catherine never forgot the mystical experience of her extreme youth; at that time she devoted herself to Christ. It was, however, a shock to her family when, refusing marriage, she insisted on giving her life totally to God. Her career was extraordinary. In that confused and dangerous era of history, the Pope was living at Catherine persuaded him to return to Rome. The City-States of Italy were at war with each Catherine subdued them. There was Catherine served and saved. She performed miracles, she received the stigmata, she drew about her a crowd of devoted men and women. A saint who would not let the Lord God alone, she really did lay siege to heaven-and changed the face of her world. This novel, which is also a vivid biography, brings Catherine of Siena to life in a remarkable way. She lives on every page.

Genres: Catholic, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Faith, Religion, Christian Fiction

361 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Mr. de Wohl was a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and his wife (nee Ruth Magdalene Lorch, whom he married in 1953) is a Lady Commander of the same Order. His fifty books include The Living Wood (Lippincott, 1947), Imperial Renegade (id., 1950), The Restless Flame (id., 1951), Throne of the World (id., 1949; published in England as Attila), The Golden Thread (Lippincott, 1952), The Second Conquest (id., 1954), Set All Afire (id., 1953), The Spear (id., 1955), and St. Joan, the Girl Soldier (Farrar, 1957) in the Vision Books series.

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how this book managed to be so informative about the political and religious strife of the times while being so inspirational. I thought I knew a fair amount about Catherine of Siena but it turns out I knew almost nothing. This book was a real joy to read and I highly recommend it.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

St Catherine of Siena is amazing!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first De Wohl book I've read. I did enjoy it, although I had a hard time keeping the historical figures straight near the end. Also, as long as the book was, it seemed an attempt as packing too much in too few pages. Ha! Such was the life of St. Catherine, I suppose. But I would have much preferred a part one and part two.

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[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing for me. It started out interesting but as the book progressed that it seemed every alleged miracle performed during her life was included in the story. As a hagiographic book this was disappointing to me. The saints are supposed to be people we should attempt to emmulate and look up to... not spiritual superheroes who can miraculously heal plague victims through prayer.

There was a some good stuff though. Her determination to become a religious sister, her compassion for her fellow man, her courage and perseverence in the face of extreme adverstity.

The part where she stays with the young man all the way to his beheading left me in tears.

This book does a good job of staying in the moment and representing the world view at the time but for this reason I would hesitate to recommend this book to someone who does not have a good understanding of Church History.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was a good introduction to St Catherine's life. I like how her determination was described, and I liked how clearly the author laid out all the political machinations at the time.

I didn't really feel like I got to know St Catherine though. She was a character that was very much set apart from the world. I understand that she was a saint, but it would have been much more interesting to see more of her emotions about what was going on.

[Sebastian Fricke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd rate this 4.5, even though it feels harsh for me to rate this great book as anything less than 5 out of 5.
The life of this wonderful saint, was not that known to me before, which is in contrary to the last books that I read from de Wohl about Saint Francis and Saint Thomas of Aquin, where I was already quite aware about the major steps of their life. This time I didn't experience the journey as a discovery of how the author wove the key parts of their life and spirituality into the story, but instead I learned about them within the story.
Catherine was in a lot of places a bit hard for me to relate, which is no surprise, as I am neither living in the middle ages, nor am I woman, nor have I've been gifted anything comparable to her gifts. But still she served me as a great inspiration. Her life seems to me like a great love story of being found, trying to answer to that love by giving oneself, by going into the silence into the deep relationship, by not setting forth ones own goals and plans, but by patiently waiting for the word of the Lord. This helped me to meditate a bit more about vocations as well, as a I am often a bit unsure, whether or not living as a hermit was fulfilling the Lord's commandments. I realized that two aspects are interwoven in the question, the role of the church and the importance of doing God's will. As we are part of the body of Christ, we are not supposed to be self-sufficient, to fulfill all functions of the body and thus we do not need stress about having to save the world, as that is what he has already done. This reality of being a tiny part of a big organism, then brings up the second point, which is that we need to know what our function is. We are not supposed to define that function for ourselves, we are supposed to listen carefully to the source of our being and fulfillment and to answer by giving ourselves to that call. And all of that is beautifully described within the story, Catherine always saw herself as a part of the church, she never tried to build her own branch, to fulfill her own desires but to find joy in being a well functioning part of the body of Christ, a part that doesn't rebel when it is called out of the it's silent nest of happiness, one that doesn't falter when it is not called yet to the final union.

So, with that said why did I subtract half a point? Well for my liking, the second half of the story leaned to heavily on the political happenings and her involvement in that and a bit less on the spiritual aspects of that journey, which is understandable as the sources are most likely her political letters, but still I found her spiritual journey a lot more interesting than the political drama (even though this serves as a good explanation for how the church evolved in those centuries).

[Fiona Altschuler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story about a fascinating saint. I didn't know much about Catherine of Siena (and I may have kind of mixed her up with Catherine of Alexandria), but now I think her one of the most memorable saints I have met: A humble and yet terrifically stubborn little nun who partook in nothing but the Blessed Sacrament, never slept, went into ecstasies and was visited dozens of times by Our Lord, yet who also wrote thousands of letters to different politicians, and even convinced the Pope to return to Rome (who was, at that time, living in Avignon).

This book was especially interesting to read alongside Sigrid Undset's Catherine of Siena — Lay Siege to Heaven was certainly an easier read; it not only have less heavy language, but Undset's biography presented Sister Catherine in a very severe, intense fashion that made it really hard to feel anything but awe and a little fear towards this little nun. Lay Siege to Heaven, however, really got you to care about St Catherine Benincasa! I also liked all the Italian politics — it made me think, "Oh, THIS is why Dante is always complaining about Florence!"

I think I liked this even more than Citadel of God, and I can't wait to read more of Louis deWohl's saint biographies/novels.

[Madeline Moczynski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book! Gives full story of St. Catherine’s life, from a little girl to the end of her life. She truly lived out her life as a servant of God and helped many others turn away from sin. She faced many trials and challenges from those who didn’t believe in her holiness and rather thought she was a witch. She tried to carry the weight of the cross throughout her whole life… she hated only evil itself. By aligning her will with God’s will she even gained power over Popes and political events. I think the author does a great job of laying out her life and using factual evidence and imagination to make St. Catherine come to life on each page.

[Marta Mata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal. En esta novela Louis de Wohl narra la vida de Santa Catalina desde que era pequeña hasta su muerte. De forma novelada cuenta como era su familia, su ciudad, sus gustos, su rutina… relata como desde niña tiene ya un encuentro con Jesús y como a partir de ese momento responde fielmente a su vocación. De esta manera, se niega a contraer matrimonio con un buen partido de hombre que su madre le había concertado, provocando una fuerte reacción de sus padres, hermanos y otras personas del pueblo. El autor relata la entrada de Santa Catalina en el convento, sus inicios, y la fama que empieza a desarrollar: santa para unos, bruja para otros. Milagros, reuniones con grandes personajes, largos viajes… Louis de Wohl no se deja detalle sin contar, y eso hace que disfrutes de la novela sin querer dejar de leerla, pero a la vez, sin querer que se acabe.

[Mary Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love my confirmation saint so much!

[Federica Garofalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ci sono vite che sembrano fatte apposta per diventare storie, vite che appartengono a tutti, vite che sembrano accadute perché, una volta trascorse, siano raccontate, e dunque rinnovate per sempre. Storie che non possono lasciare indifferenti, perché chiamano in causa la parte più profonda di noi stessi, ci svelano qualcosa su chi siamo. Come la storia di Caterina Benincasa, una “ragazza come le altre” della seconda metà del Trecento, figlia di un piccolo imprenditore di Siena, penultima di 25 fratelli, semianalfabeta, che morirà ad appena 33 anni consumata da una vita mistica così intensa da sembrare follia, eppure divenuta, e non suo malgrado, la personalità più importante del suo tempo, tanto da cambiare la storia. La materia a disposizione è tantissima, ma al tempo stesso il rischio è molto alto: e dunque sorprende solo fino ad un certo punto che di romanzi su Caterina da Siena ne sia stato scritto uno solo, “Lay Siege to Heaven” di Louis de Wohl, pubblicato negli Stati Uniti nel 1961, ma edito in Italia solo nel 2007 dalla Rizzoli con il titolo di "La mia natura è il fuoco". Titolo scelto dalla traduttrice, con cui non sono molto d’accordo, a dire la verità: avrei trovato molto più forte e più bella una resa del titolo Inglese, del tipo "Assedio al Paradiso". Perché veramente Caterina è una che il Paradiso lo ha messo sotto assedio, in tutti i modi possibili e immaginabili.

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[M Laabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book from the very beginning. It is amazing to see how she allowed Our Lord to direct her life.

[Nicole Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different than de Wohl's other books somehow. Maybe it's just because Saint Catherine is very different from, say, Saint Francis of Assisi. But this book was fascinating and totally thought provoking. We could do with someone like Saint Catherine today!

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

89/100 (= 5.3/6) ≈ 5 Stars

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Captivating story. Contemplative + active. Shows great how human aspect of Church interferes with salvation of souls sometimes. Excellent read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...just wow.

This book is like nothing you will ever read today...
I can't describe it in any other way than...real ...Utterly, completely real.
Highly recommend...

[Naomi Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a little trouble keeping all the various political figures organized in my head, but on the whole, I enjoyed this historical biography.

[The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful novel about St Catherine of Siena. As with Louis de Wohl's other novels, the text is mostly dialogue, the chapters are short and suspenseful, and you often find yourself on cliffhangers, eager for more. Along the way, you learn about history (Ex. The "black death") and the life of a saint. 


Two scenes struck me as exceptionally beautiful. 


In the first, St Catherine meets an angry young man who has been condemned to death. Through her intercession, his heart is softened and converted. He begs her to accompany him to his death, and she agrees, knowing that he is frightened. As the executioners prepare to behead the young man, they put down a basket before the block of execution. His heart sinks upon understanding it's purpose. But St Catherine of Siena won't have it. She commands the executioner to remove the basket, and in a heart-wrenching act of motherly love, she holds the young man's head in place with her own hands. 


In the second, through St Catherine's intercession, Pope Gregory XI has resolved to return the papacy from France to Rome, where it should be. The Pope's French Cardinals and other advisers do everything they can to change his mind, juxtaposing the comforts and security of France with the increasingly hostile and volatile city states of Italy. Nevertheless, the Pope embarks on the journey home, after decades in France. 


Along the way, however, the Pope experiences various setbacks. These lead first to doubt and then the paralysis of fear. Unable to sleep, he gets out of bed, dresses in the clothing of a simply priest, and sneaks out of his palace in the middle of the night. Dejected, the Pope wanders through the streets of Genoa alone and is mistaken for a drunkard. However, he finds his way to the place where St Catherine of Siena is staying, and they pray together until morning. His faith is strengthened, and the papacy returns to Rome. 


After the death of Pope Gregory XI, St Catherine of Siena defended the new Pope, Urban VI, an Italian, against an anti-Pope, Clement VII, who had risen up against him in France, making false claims that Pope Urban VI had been elected under duress because the Roman mob would have refused another French Pope. The schism would not end until 35 years after Catherine's death.


St Catherine of Siena was a Doctor of the Church, a lay Dominican, and one of the most influential women of the middle ages. Her first mystical experience happened when she was just six years old, and they persisted throughout the rest of her life. Toward the end, she was unable to eat regular meals and survived on nothing but the Blessed Sacrament, experiencing profound ecstasy whenever she received Holy Communion. The marks of the stigmata appeared on her hands and feet when she died, shortly after her 33rd birthday.


Preaching her funeral sermon, the English Augustinian friar, Brother William Flete, said, "Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of our Lord for a little while; Catherine of Siena tried to carry it throughout her whole life..."

[Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"….Instead of being angels in human form, you have taken on the office of demons. This is not the blindness of ignorance. No: you know the truth; it was you who announced it to us, not we to you. Oh, what madmen you are! You give us the truth and taste a lie yourselves. Now you want to deny this truth and make us believe the opposite, saying that you elected Pope Urban out of fear. It is not so; whoever says so is a liar. (I am speaking to you without reverence, for you have deprived yourselves of reverence.)”

---

First off, Saint Catherine of Siena is THE SHIZ, and I’m glad Louis de Wohl recognizes that.

One of the complaints I saw sometimes with this novel in reviews on Goodreads was that the book’s lead character was too perfect, and so there wasn’t much room to go with her character. Maybe, but I think the point wasn’t that we see Catherine develop as a person (though we do), but more of the reaction she gets from the people around her, and the changes she makes on the world.

This idea fascinates me–the way the world reacts to and shifts in the presence of a holy person. It’s hinted at in one of the subplots I liked in “Prince of Foxes”, it’s the main driving element of “The Chosen,” and every National Novel Writing Month or so I try writing a novel to that effect. And it’s a thing I really liked about “An Army of Angels”, which is a book I loved until I got towards the end and it had that… thing I hated and made me throw the book across the room.

Luckily “Lay Siege to Heaven” has no scene like it and it worked much better for me!

It’s not perfect; I do think that while it’s not the point, Catherine could use more development, something that could have been done with her having more internal monologue in the later parts of the novel. If we had never gotten her inner thoughts at all, it’d work better, but as a teenager the narration has a lot of her thoughts, whereas it’s less important as the story goes on.

Along with being a spiritual story, this is also, quite surprisingly, a political drama? Maybe it shouldn’t be, given Catherine of Siena, but in case you were wondering what life was like in Italy in the 1300’s, and how the political systems of city-states interacted with each other and the Pope–well, here’s a good primer! The majority of the Plot is the relationship between the Papacy and the Republic of Florence, and trying to convince the Pope to move back to Rome from Avignon. Things like Hawkwood’s raiding across Italy, and how other city-states relate to Siena and Florence, are also important bits of background information.

I loved this book, I enjoyed reading it, and now I want to sit and write a letter to every important person in the world and tell them what they’re doing wrong so that they can straighten themselves out.

[Robert Suarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I am not sure what I expected when I picked this book off the rack. I had never heard of this book and I had never heard of the author (Louis de Wohl) - which is even worse - because it makes me look like rube.

My expectations were lowered even more as the book started out slowly and I almost stopped. However, I really had nothing else to read - and I really did want to learn something of St. Catherine of Siena - so I decided to tough it out.

i have to say that I loved this book! I don't say that often enough and I think I really need to say it more often. I usually reserve such statements for books in the Historical / Historical Fiction genre. But occasionally a book crosses over and just sweeps me away to another place ... another time ... to an era where life, history and destiny were hammered out and formed in the furnace of the natural order.

Unfortunately, the natural order is usually not pretty. This is true in the secular world, and sadly, it also true in ecclesiastic realms. This is particularly true in previous centuries when ecclesiastic realms were often wedded to political, governmental, and military powers.

Louis de Wohl does us a great favor in showing the reader just how ugly things really were in the political, civil government and the military. As bad as they were St. Catherine lived to reform and correct the Ecclesiastic abuses of the Catholic Church hierarchy. This is her story and Louis de Wohl does an excellent job telling her story.

I must note that in general I am not a fan of fiction. It always seems like such a waste of time and energy. I "know" it is not a completely true or fair statement. But that is I how feel. Yet, when I was a younger man I "discovered" Wilbur Smith. His brand of fiction would sweep me up in thrilling heights of adventure and war. And then I would come crashing down into a trough of dread. His books were like an emotional roller coaster ride - a ride I never wanted to get off of.

This book had that kind of feel to it. Although not as high nor as low as Wilbur Smiths' writing I could easily have forgotten that this was not a book of fiction.

Her story is an amazing story and Louis de Wohl does a wonderful job putting her story on the page.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I read Lay Siege to Heaven I didn't like it much. Saint Catherine felt too alien and very few of the other characters stay as substitute narrators. Indeed, there is much about this book that reads more like a documentary as the route retelling of events than a historical novel (albeit far easier and more enjoyable to read than a documentary).

The second time I read Lay Siege to Heaven I finally understood what I didn't like about the book. In this modern day and age, the Catholic Church does not expressly teach the more esoteric or fantastical tenets of the faith. For instance, most Catholics believe that a) demons were real, but aren't that prevalent since the Resurrection or b) that mental illness was blamed on demons and demons never really existed. As it turns out, the Catholic Church does believe demons are real and exorcisms continue to this day. They believe that good spirits (aka angels) and evil spirits are in a constant battle, with the prize being the souls of people. I don't feel like I'm doing justice to the subject, and I've only scratched the surface in my own studies, but nonetheless, reading about Saint Catherine's spiritual intersessions and demonic interactions means a whole lot more when you realize that this was her reality. Before, in my first read through, I thought most of these sections were symbolic or metaphoric, and thus disappointing and confusing.

Yeah. That'd be a big no.

Once you have the necessary background laid out, Lay Siege to Heaven is an excellent retelling of Saint Catherine's remarkable life. I still find her alien in nature, but now there is the understanding that this was a woman who literally experienced the wonders of heaven and had to come back. I'm looking forward to reading the compilation of her conversations with God in Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue.

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il vero voto sarebbe 2.5 ma non esiste il mezzo su Goodreads. Non mi andava nemmeno di dare solamente due stelle perché non si tratta di un brutto libro e perché Caterina da Siena mi è molto cara. Louis de Wohl ha una bella penna, d'impatto ... E sa descrivere molto bene gli uomini. Meno le donne.

Ogni volta che viene spiegato e descritto ciò che Caterina fa non ci credo. Ogni volta che vengono usate le lettere di Caterina per spiegare la sua personalità, invece, la ritrovo completamente per come l'ho studiata e immaginata. Diverso con gli uomini: ognuno di loro, anche se un personaggio storico del 1300, mi sembra credibile per come viene presentato da De Wohl. Si vede che l'autore è credente, forse anche per questo non ho apprezzato il libro come avrei dovuto: in questo caso è colpa mia, che mi aspettavo riflessioni più profonde su eventuali turbe mentali di Caterina che la portavano a vaneggiare su Gesù ed eventuali apparizioni, sofferenza eterna, inferno e paradiso. Giustamente è stato dato più risalto alla sua santità che a tutto il resto ma ho molto apprezzato digressioni storiche e descrizioni di un periodo complicato, talmente lungo e sconquassato da innumerevoli avvenimenti che risulta spesso di difficile comprensione a causa di un trattamento scolastico sommario.

Viva sempre Caterina da Siena, delulu totale ma anche una donna di incredibile intelligenza e virtù ❤️

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

After visiting Siena last year, and learning some important information about St. Catherine of Siena, a Doctor of the Church, I knew I needed to know more. I found another "old" book by de Wohl, and I was on my way. Catherine had to fight her family when she knew she did not want to marry, but enter a religious order, instead. The 1300's in Siena was not an ideal place to be, as there were always feuds and of course, the plague. We think the Church is in trouble now,but it was in an awful state back the. The Pope was not in Rome, but in Avignon, and thank God, we have Catherine to try and set things right. She worked hard at trying to end wars between the city-states, and to persuade the Pope to be a man, and get back to Rome. What stands out in this book, is that she had such a powerful relationship with our Lord, and was brave and fearless in her beliefs. This book paints a great picture of life in Italy during the 1300's. I pray that I may grow to be as brave and knowledgeable as St. Catherine.

[Norberto del Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran vida la de esta Santa de la Iglesia.

Era una lectura que tenía pendiente, por aquello de satisfacer la curiosidad de mi mujer respecto a lo que este libro me pareciera.

No deja de ser una biografía novelada, de ágil lectura; aunque de traducción algo anticuada ya.

Por otro lado, y entrando en el fondo del libro, conviene reconocer que hay seres humanos extraordinarios; y Catalina lo era, sin duda. Tan lejos de lo común fueron sus treinta y tres años de existencia que a medida que se lee sobre su vida, uno tiene dos opciones: empequeñecer, abrumado ante su suma bondad; o bien, intentar rehacerse y seguir el gran ejemplo que nos legó.

En fin, una pega se le puede sacar al señor Wohl en este libro: el final es algo precipitado y denso. El hábil sistema que sigue desde el inicio de la obra se torna demasiado “facilón” cuando se acerca la conclusión, y de ahí que pueda llegar a ser aburrido.

Con todo, y con eso también, sólo resta dar las gracias a D. Louis por su valentía como escritor.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book where you don't even realize that you are reading a story about a saint. Totally captivating. It was hard for me to put down. I read the pages of the beginning to my daughters, who were enthralled by Catherine's life as a little girl. The second part of the book was not as easy to read. It got much more detailed about the history and the battles going on at the time. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but I personally find that kind of writing harder to read. Highly recommend this to any Catholic (or anyone for that matter!) who wants to learn more about this amazing Saint. I am really looking forward to reading more fiction about Saints by this author!

[Elettra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bellissima biografia di Santa Caterina da Siena. Non avevo letto nulla in precedenza di De Whol e ho scoperto un grande scrittore che ha la capacità di trasportare il lettore accanto ai protagonisti e nel contempo a scrivere un pezzo di storia politica, religiosa e sociale. E sì che non è facile avvicinarsi ad una donna come Caterina che vive in un periodo molto burrascoso ma brucia di un fuoco divino che le fa superare ogni sorta di difficoltà. La sua fede è granitica e nello stesso tempo ha la potenza di incendiare gli animi di chi le sta vicino come appunto il fuoco che si attacca a tutto. È un libro che non lascia indifferenti.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and engaging work telling the life of St. Catherine. De Wohl is a very gifted writer and storyteller, and he truly brings St. Catherine to life and makes you fall in love with her, much in the same way those who knew her must have loved her.

At the same time that I began this novel, I was also reading the Dialogue of St. Catherine and was pleasantly surprised at how much of the content and messages of the Dialogue were woven seamlessly into de Wohl's narrative. De Wohl was also to make the politics of the time more comprehendable than any of the academic biographies I've read on St. Catherine.

[Santiago Lago · Rating 5 out of 5]

No solía leer mucho, pero desde que cogí esta novela no pude dejar de leer a este gran autor.
No sé cómo pero Louis de Wohl crea en mi tal sensación de intriga que parece adictiva, no me queda del todo claro si es su modo de escribir o lo que cuenta en sus libros, pero no he dejado de pensar en la vida de esta Santa desde que lo leí. Me parece una vida ejemplar, no dejó de luchar por mejorar la vida de los demás y por intentar, siendo lo poco que somos en comparación con Él, ayudar a Dios en todo lo que pudo.
Sólo puedo darle las gracias a Louis de Wohl por escribir esta novela que tanto me ha ayudado a corregirme tanto humana como espiritualmente

[Moonlight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molto bello! Questo autore riesce a dare vita ed umanità a Santi che, per molti, sono solo una specie di super-eroi i cui nomi ricorrono nei calendari. Qui viene raccontata la vita di Santa Caterina da Siena, e ricostruita la realtà dell’epoca e del luogo in cui visse. Mi è piaciuta molto la prima parte in cui, giovane ragazza, rende manifesta la propria vocazione alla sua famiglia, da cui viene all’inizio ostacolata. Le seconda parte è invece incentrata sulle vicende papali, la rivalità tra francesi e italiani, tra Avignone e Roma, in una narrazione degna dei migliori romanzi storici.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew much about this incredible Saint before, but this book - this novel- has brought her to life for me. She lived during the Black Plague in Italy, and even though it was a small part of the book, it was interesting to read about the similarities to our own time concerning “the virus” and caring for those around us regardless. Also about the political and social turmoil of the time (14th century) along with the problems in the Church. There’s no doubt about it, she was an extraordinary soul. I’d love to get her writings and get to know her even better.