Lady at the Window

Waldron (Thomas Merton in Search of His Soul) imagines the lost journal of 14th-century mystic Julian of Norwich in this stirring novella. Julian lived sequestered in her later years as a hermit in the English city of Norwich, and her primary interactions were with her confessor, her servant, and the people who came to her for spiritual direction and wisdom. Julian doles out hopeful advice and questions the traditional Catholic practice of priestly confessions. Composed in secret—as women were forbidden from writing in English at the time—her journal entries display an unabashed defiance of norms, and, in scriptural readings, Julian likens Jesus as a mother rather than a son or father. Covering the last Holy Week before Julian’s death, the final entries look back on a life lived amid plagues, war, and despair. Despite the darkness of days, Julian surmises that, with peace and trust in God, “all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Christian readers will enjoy Waldron’s convincing, reflective tale. (Apr.)