Check This Out host Rachel Barenbaum talks with debut novelist Janet Rich Edwards about her new novel, Canticle.
The novel is set in 13th-century Bruges and explores the little-told stories of medieval women—mystics, saints, anchoresses, and beguines.
Aleys is sixteen years old and prone to religious visions. She and her only friend, a young scholar, have been learning Latin together in secret—but he abandons her for the monastery.
Her father promises her in marriage to the head of the weavers’ guild, and in desperation she runs away from home, eventually finding shelter within a community of religious women, the Benguines, who do not answer to the church.
Illegal translations of scripture, the women’s independence, and a sudden rash of miracles all draw the attention of an ambitious bishop—and bring Aleys and those around her into ever-increasing danger.
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Check this Out features lively conversations with up and coming authors you may not have discovered yet. Check This Out is proud to partner with The PEN/Faulkner Foundation to champion new voices in literature.
