What would motivate an ordinary medieval woman to withdraw from the world and become an anchoress, vowing to live out her remaining years in a small cell attached to a church and devote her time to spiritual contemplation?

In her first novel, I, Julian, Claire Gilbert re-creates the spiritually rich, life-affirming voice of Julian of Norwich, the 14th-15th century mystic whose writings are the first known works by a woman in English. Little is known about the particulars of her life, including her birth name, and Gilbert has filled in the gaps with this marvelous historical reconstruction.

At age 30, having narrowly survived a bout of severe illness, Julian began seeing visions of the Passion of Christ and dedicated her remaining days to soul-searching, prayer, and the sharing of what she glimpsed, realizing the importance of her knowledge for others.

Gilbert imagines a plausible autobiography for Julian, from her quiet childhood with her loving parents in a smallholding outside Norwich, through the tragic years of the Black Plague, the steady encouragement of her mother and others, the terrible grief and guilt she endures, and the transformative experience of her visions, or “showings.” Her words are taken down by a trusted Benedictine monk called Thomas.

It becomes an interesting paradox (addressed in full in the story) that Julian’s physical retreat from the world means complete reliance on others to provide for her needs: food, medical help, and the regular supply of writing materials. The author writes beautifully about Julian's religious life as well as her humanity. Through a window from her anchorhold into the church, she gives her confession and participates in religious services; through a curtained window to the outdoors, she converses with spiritual seekers, friends, her maid, and others whose purpose is less benevolent.

In the late 14th century, the followers of John Wycliffe are amassing, seeking to make the Bible more accessible via English translation, and Julian must tread carefully so as not to be associated with the controversial movement (even while quietly pondering its merits). Throughout her long life, both enclosed and not, Julian remains curious and eager to learn more about God’s feelings toward humankind, which she comes to learn is eternally loving.

Readers of Mary Sharratt’s Illuminations and Revelations (about Hildegard of Bingen and Margery Kempe, respectively) will especially want to pick up I, Julian, and it’s also recommended for anyone interested in the lives of accomplished historical women.

I really enjoyed this book, and have given it as a present to several friends since its publication. With apologies for being so slow to send a review.

Told in the first person, this is the fictionalised autobiography of Julian of Norwich, a young woman who became an anchorite in the fourteenth century. It is based heavily on the author’s research and often includes Julian’s own words.
I loved the story telling, from when Julian was a young girl watching her father die from the plague through to her voluntarily being walled up in her cell and how she dealt with that. I really felt that I got to know her especially in the early days when she struggled to cope with being imprisoned in one small room. However, I found the accounts of her visions and the theological discussions less interesting and found myself skipping through some of them.
I was glad that I read it and found out more about Julian who has always intrigued me.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, John Murray for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While it’s right up my street, you might think a novel about a fourteenth century woman who chose to be declared dead and spend the rest of her life in a room built on to the side of a church in Norwich would be a little, let’s say, niche. But Claire Gilbert’s writing makes I, Julian easily accessible to someone who knows nothing about the period or the anchoritic life.
It’s somewhat inevitable that we don’t know a great deal about someone who lived so long ago and did not write about her life. But from the snippets of information about Julian that survive and the record of her visions, Gilbert has created a wholly plausible and sympathetic character. As Julian recounts the events of her life and describes her feelings and doubts, the decision to become an anchoress seems reasonable, a way of allowing her to spend time in contemplation. I highly recommend you spend some time with her.

I was very interested to read this book since it was about Julian of Norwhich. I had read some of her work in college and I think it is very interesting that at one time a woman was seen as crazy for hearing God for herself.

This book is accounts Julian's childhood through her years serving God and is a great example of how life was like during her life time. Including what she refers too as "the pestilence.'

While the book is good, it didn't hold my attention the way other books might. But it was well written, and interesting, and I am curious to read more from this author.

The value of the story was 3 stars. The writing was 3 stars. So overall I give this book 3 stars.

I, Julian: The fictional autobiography of Julian of Norwich
The fictional autobiography of Julian of Norwich
by Claire Gilbert
Pub Date 13 Apr 2023
John Murray, Hodder & Stoughton
Christian | Historical Fiction | Literary Fiction


Netgalley and John Murray have provided me with a copy of I Julian for review:



It is in 1347 that the first pestilence rages across the country. In the early years of Julian of Norwich's life, she is confronted with the strangeness of death: first her father, then her husband and her child. She experiences mystical visions when she becomes ill herself. Julian is at risk, however, when the Church actively condemns heretics amid suspicion and menace.


A medieval woman dares to tell her own story in I, Julian.



In spite of grief, plague, the church, and societal expectations, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up on the side of a church. Assisted by Thomas, a Benedictine monk from Norwich Cathedral, she writes of her experiences and offers advice to others. As Julian's manuscripts are protected by trusted sisters and passed from hand to hand, it becomes the first book to be written in English by a woman.



A sensitive, luminous, meditative and powerful fictional portrayal of the life of Julian of Norwich - the mother, mystic, and radical.



I give I, Julian five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Really engaging Historical Fiction novel that explores the life and times of Julian of Norwich. By constructing this as a fictional memoir, Gilbert captures a sense of Julian's voice and worries and she enters a life of seclusion as an Anchorite in the 14th century. Having read some of Julian's writings myself I was somewhat familiar with her ideas but I found this an interesting and clarifying account of her faith, beliefs and life. Obviously things are conflated and manipulated for narrative convenience but I found it truthful to the voice and authentic to the time period.
By exploring changes in faith, beliefs, politics and women's lives Gilbert provides a lens through which we can explore a time rarely explored in Historical Fiction.
I enjoyed the calmness of the read. The novel is contemplative of a life of solitude - especially interesting coming out of enforced lives of solitude over the last few years. I really enjoyed this.

I, Julian is a fictional account of a woman who lived in medieval England at the end of the 1300s. She decided to become an anchoress and attach herself to the church. In this role, she served as a spiritual director for several decades.
Although this book is fiction, I appreciated the message of love. And the author does a good job of sharing what daily life would have been like for Julian, including the spiritual highs and the emotional lows. That insight was interesting.
Julian of Norwich is a theologian whose work impacts my beliefs today. I often quote, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

I love this book. Gilbert powerfully depicts a fictionalised account of Julian’s life, from a highly sensitive small child, watching her father die of the bubonic plague, through all the major events in her life, ending up with her living bricked up as an anchoress for the final twenty years. I thought Gilbert handled the language so it gave the impression of a medieval woman, even though it’s written in modern English very well – and it’s a tricky thing to do.

I was reminded of the old Chinese curse – May you live in interesting times – when reading this book. Poor Julian not only endured the death of her father from bubonic plague as a young child, which completely changed the family’s dynamic, but also had to cope with the loss of her own young daughter and husband in another devastating wave of the same terrible illness. I read of her struggles to come to terms with these heart-wrenching bereavements, conscious that I was viewing this quite differently in a post-Covid world.

Huge numbers had died of the plague and there weren’t enough workers to get harvests in – or, indeed, enough people farming the land. The Church claimed the plague was God’s punishment for the sinful ways of the populace – a terrible burden of guilt to carry if you were a young woman not entirely happy in her marriage, who also found motherhood difficult. Julian was all but crushed by it. She then fell dangerously ill – and during that illness she experienced powerful visions of God’s love that a long-time friend, a priest, wrote down as she dictated. Eventually, she got her wish to spend time alone and communing with God, though I was interested to read of her careful preparation before becoming an anchoress, as the abbess supporting her was keen for the project not to fail.

Gilbert writes movingly of her panic attacks at being cooped up and of her ongoing battle with crippling constipation during the winter – her illness seems to have left her rather frail. She was overwhelmed when her loyal servant, Alice, also decided to become a hermit. In time, Julian manages to come to terms with her life and gets a reputation for wisdom and divinity when people seek her out for advice. Her message of God’s unwavering love for all must have provided huge comfort for others also traumatised by bereavement and loss. But she also had to contend with growing suspicion from the Church and members of the clergy.

I came away from reading this book awed at the courage and resilience of this medieval woman from a middle-income family. It’s amazing the depth of her perception and the poetry of her writing, given she didn’t receive any formal education and her contribution deserves to live on. Highly recommended for those interested in the nature of faith, the history of the Church and an uplifting testament to the resilience of the human spirit. While I obtained an arc of I, Julian from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

I am by no means a Religious Woman as I lost my faith in the Church in my Teens when I realised just how much hypocrisy there was in all Churches especially when their religion is actually mainly based on a Book of Fiction not fact! but the arduous life that Women endured in the time of Julian & in fact in many countries still do all based on Religion mainly led by men still has to be admired , she dared to stand up, be seen & also heard & to leave a written legacy too about her visions ,the Corruption ( which still exists ) in the Higher Church & to have herself eventually walled up as an Anchoress has to be admired ,as even then she was not always as safe as she hoped she would be. This is an extraordinary read & I highly recommend it #NetGalley, #GoodReads,#Amazon.co.uk, #FB, #Instagram, # <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/8a5b541512e66ae64954bdaab137035a5b2a89d2" width="80" height="80" alt="200 Book Reviews" title="200 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. I read it after receiving it as an ARC from Netgalley for my review. I started to read, but just couldn't warm up to it so I set it aside. After reading two other books, I went back to it, realizing it had fewer pages than many other books I read. But even so, it took a long time to finish. Was that because I spent so much time thinking about what I was reading? I checked while reading the first part to see what was actually known about Julian of Norwich - to get an idea of how much of this might be true. The answer is very little although the author does at the end of the book give a time line and puts in it what is true and what is her imagination or putting things in different times - she often moves an event up by 100 year to fit her story. Once I got past the halfway point, it seemed to go faster.

I was fascinated by the story but felt the tension Julian was feeling. She was writing things that did not fit what the Roman Catholic church was teaching at the time. She was sometimes misinterpreted by both the Lollards and the Catholic Church. While at times I wondered if I should read her actual writings, I also wondered if I should ask my priest if this was heretical and I should avoid. In the end, I decided I do not want to read what has been attributed to her as there is no proof that she was the author - the original manuscripts are all lost. We don't even know if the woman's name was Julian or if she got that name because she was an anchoress in St. Julian's church in Norwich. Perhaps that is because her writings were hidden as this book suggests that they were lost. Or perhaps the writings attributed to her were actually written by someone else.

The story was very well told even if I sometimes had trouble understanding who the speaker was. The information about how the nuns conducted their daily lives before Julian became an anchorite was, to me, the best part of the book.

If one looks at this book as totally fiction, I think it deserves a little higher rating - perhaps 4 stars. But my concern is that it is very hard to separate the fiction from the religion in the book. And that causes me to pause. Julian has never been canonized as a saint. What she says is not scripture, but her interpretation of visions she had. I am concerned that people will confuse the two. And so I have to give it a three.

I, Julian is the fictional autobiography of a medieval anchoress, Julian of Norwich, who was a mystical and religious woman that voluntarily walled herself into a cell attached to a church. The story narrates her life, including many historical facts that we know about Julian and adding others that are unknown but could well be true.

I really enjoyed this book, even as an unrepentant atheist. I loved being in Julian's head and following her thought processes as she interpreted events in her life together with visions she had while gravely ill. "All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well" is a very comforting thought, even for those of us without religious convictions.

“But God still holds this fragile thing in His love and if God is here why would I not be?”

Through her new book, I Julian, Claire Gilbert blurs the lines of fact and fiction to allow us a glimpse into what life may have looked like for the medieval anchorite and mystic, Julian of Norwich. She imagines her childhood, the loss of her family, her encounter with sickness, and the profound revelations from God (or showings,) that shaped the rest of her life; eventually leading to her decision to become an anchorite so that she might have more time to contemplate the meaning of her revelations.

The book is written as though fresh from Julian’s pen, in first person and with a casual (sometimes unconventional) tone, addressing her benefactor Thomas, a priest at Norwich. This stylistic choice was at times effective—allowing the author to take liberties in her shaping of the narrative. Other times, it hindered my immersion in the text, and may be part of why I never felt like I was quite able to connect to the character.

Somehow, I struggled with Gilbert’s depiction of Julian before she became an anchorite. She brings Julian alive, emphasizing her humanity, and embodiment as a real person grounded in a time and place that formed her as concretely as her spiritual experiences did. However, her character felt removed from reality, somehow always separate from, and dissatisfied with her life (which, granted, wasn’t great). I wanted to meet a Julian that could delight in motherhood and delight in the life of solitude, seeing both equally, as places where she can encounter God and be formed spiritually, rather than seeing the grit of life as an obstacle to her higher, more intellectual and spiritual pursuits.
“The very place where my pen touches the page, nay, finer than that, the ink at the tip of my nib touching the page, that place becomes so enormous… I emerge from my copying as one who has encountered God.”
Despite these criticisms, I hesitate to give this book less than four stars, especially because I think my ability to enjoy it was hindered by the awkward formatting of the Netgalley copy that was no fault of the author’s.

I Julian is beautifully, poetically written, and well researched, including a helpful timeline that helps separate the facts from the fiction for readers like me, who are mostly unfamiliar with Julian’s story. I find Claire Gilbert has managed to delve into some of the internal world of her character, and loved how she wrestled with the tension between Julian’s submission and reverence to the “Holy Church” and the truths that she felt God had revealed to her, that were in contradiction to what the church continued to teach.

Finally, the intentionality with which the excerpts from Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love, were woven into the story will make any reader itch to pick up her text for themselves!

This is a very clever, very well written, and very entertaining book. It is a fictional biography of Julian of Norwich, the real life anchoress who was holed up in Norwich Cathedral. The writing is sharp and the pacing varies at each phase of Julian’s life. On many occasions I forgot I was reading fiction.

There is much here about Julian’s childhood and how she came to decide to dedicate herself to God and to her ‘visions’ where she was told what to write to educate people. The story is very moving and Ms Gilbert has beautifully captured the nuances and beliefs of the time (as far as I’m aware of course).

A very enjoyable read for anyone who likes historical fiction and it will interest you whether you were aware of the real Julian or whether or not you’ve read Julian’s book.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley

I Julian is a wonderful book. Julian of Norwich was a mystic and an anchoress living at the end of the 14th century. She is credited with having written one of the earliest texts attributed to a woman: Revelations of Divine Love, from which comes the well-known teaching, ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well’. Claire Gilbert has taken what little is known about this remarkable woman and created a truly authentic impression of how Julian’s life might have unfolded from childhood through marriage and motherhood to her years as an anchoress. Julian’s struggles with her relationship to God and what she believes he wants from her are interwoven into the domestic life of the merchant classes in East Anglia and also the wider events of life at the time which included several horrific upsurges of the plague, the Peasant’s Revolt, Wycliffe, the Lollards and the sinister beginnings of religious persecution.

I was totally enthralled and felt genuine fear for Julian at times, especially when the moment came for her to be incarcerated in the small room which would become her home until her death many years later. I had wondered how the author could possibly sustain the readers’ interest in this period of Julian’s life when her life was so restricted but the pace and the detail do not disappoint.

A marvellous book on every level.

My thanks to Net Galley, the author and publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an independent review.

I, Julian reimagines biography of Julian of Norwich, an English mystic and anchoress.

Mid 14th century, Norwich, England. Julian (1343 – after 1416), at seven, loses her father to pestilence. She is in pain over his death. She doesn’t know how to process it and how to heal from it. That’s when the seed of her visions start.

At ten, her mother teaches her to read. Later, Julian counts it as her greatest gift from her mother.

At nineteen, her mother wants her to marry, but Julian doesn’t want to obey a man and bear children. She prefers solitude. Her mother insists on her meeting Martin, a wool merchant. Julian does and realizes that beneath his strong appearance there is tenderness. She thinks the city will be bearable when she is with him.

Later, she is introduced to the lay sisters who transformed her mother. She also learns of such calling as anchoress. Upon some contemplations she picks a path that she feels is right for her.

Once, she gets sick and being close to death, her visions start. Visions that lead her to the service, to help a grieving world.

The story is revealed through stunning prose. Julian’s feelings are beautifully breathed into this story. I found some visions and contemplations a bit too long. Overall, the story is very well-crafted and authentic. The voice of Julian is very believable.

First of all, unfortunately the version for Kindle had issues with formatting. The title and author and random marks were thrown into the text.

The book wasn't for me. It grabbed my attention a few times so I've decided to finish it, also out of curiosity what will happen next, but unfortunately not much. It was boring and I feel like maybe I just wasn't a right audience for it, but for most part I've felt like it was a chore reading it. It was also pretty one dimensional, I wish we got the main character's perspective on more things than just religion and church. It felt like a sermon and I feel like it went downhill in my enjoyment level around the half of the book. I wish I had nicer things to say.

I, Julian by Claire Gilbert is a fictional autobiography abour Julian of Norwich, who was an anchoress, bricked into a room she could never leave, and dedicating her life to prayer and theological writings. Her writings from before she became an anchoress, now known as Revelations of Divine Love are the earliest surviving writings in English by a woman. The premise of this book is that it is Julian’s life as dictated to her regular visitor Thomas. It follows Julian’s life from her childhood, the death of her father, the effect of the waves of bubonic plague that subsequently took her husband and daughter too, and her involvement in charitable works and her desire to dedicate her life to God.

Written in a style reminiscent of ancient writings, this is a complex read but so evocative and enthralling. The story spends the first half of the book covering her life up to her entering the life of an anchoress and all of the events leading up to that point, including how people would travel to meet with her to talk about her visions. The second half of the book details the time that Julian spends as an anchoress, from her initial panic when the door was bricked up, which was immediately followed by a sense of peace with the removal of anything between her and God, enabling dedicated prayer, and the issues she had as religious changes were taking place in England outside in the world but with a direct impact on Julian. As I read this book I found myself doing additional research to find out more about Julian of Norwich and what little was known of her life. I felt that the author managed to beautifully capture the essence of how Julian’s life would have been both before and after she became an anchoress.

Revelations of Divine Love was published exactly 650 years ago, in 1373, and it seems particularly apposite to have the publication of a fictional autobiography like I, Julian being published during an anniversary year. I, Julian is a beautifully written and evocative account that will transport you to medieval England, and make you feel like you are a personal witness to the actions of an incredible woman years ahead of her time. Historical fiction at its finest.

I am grateful to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for sight of the pre-publication copy.
This is an excellent read, uplifting an enthralling, a fictional account of the creation of the writing of anchorite Julian of Norwich. Such devotion and insight does not come from nothing. Julian lives at a turbulent time. Her childhood is set at the time of the devastating Black Death (the Great Pestilence), endured in pain and ignorance, attributed by the established Church to the sins of the people. Racked with guilt young Julian believes she is responsible for the death of her father. She is married, has a daughter, only to see them taken by a further wave of the pestilence. Enough to destroy sanity; but her life defining moment is a vision of the crucified Christ and she struggles to understand this.
After meeting a group of independent women parchmenters she decides to seek to become an anchoress. The rest of the book describes her struggle to be true to herself and her vision while staying within Mother Church whose functionaries seek to restrain her and her mission. This is beautifully described with clarity and tension and the message is clear: Love is all, and all shall be well.

O, guiding night;
O, night more lovely than the dawn;
O, night that hast united
The lover with His beloved,
And changed her into her love. (Dark Night of the Soul, Juan De la Cruz)

This are some verse from a poem by Juan de la Cruz and they are the best way to describe how I pictured Julian in this book.
I’ve been thinking that women mystics’ are fascinating and exceptional women, women who chose to follow their spiritual instinct and often chose a different way of life.
They often risked to be burned at stake as heretic. Julian, who wrote in English, could have shared the same fate of Marguerite Porrete who was burned at stake for her ideas and who wrote The Mirror of Simple Souls.
Julian is one of the few mystics who wrote about her experience and her reflection.
I re-read Revelations of Divine Love, the book written by Julian, before reading this novel and the fictional Julian and the historical Julian resonated in my mind.
It’s not always an easy book and some of Julian’s reflect are quite removed from our experience. She lived centuries ago but her words, her spiritual experience can inspire and make us reflect now.
There’s a lot of spiritual strength in this fictional Julian: an unusual woman with a need for me-time and a direct relationship with the Divine.
Claire Gilbert knows what she’s talking about and her voice and Julian’s mixes and create a story that flows and kept me reading till late in the night.
This is an excellent book, a book about an exceptional woman and her age.
I was sad to read the last page as I loved this story and the characters.
Many thanks to Hodder Faith, Rhoda Hardie for this digital copy, all opinions are mine.