Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards

 genre: historical fiction

In medieval Bruges, the Church is the scaffolding on which a life is created.  And if you want to be close to God, you'd better have a man with some kind of authority to be your guide.  For Aleys, who is raised on the stories of female saints, Jesus is more than a tale.  He is a real presence that she soon realizes she needs to dedicate some part of her life to - but its not as though a medieval woman can just go ahead and do what she wants without everyone around her having an opinion about it.  And the weight of some opinions can lead to disaster.  

The lovely book centers, first and foremost, women who have a desire to have their own kind of relationship with a divine being that feels tangible to their own lives.  Aleys is a gorgeously written protagonist.  She is passionate and capable and her journey as a religious person is such an intriguing one. While Christianity is no longer my spiritual home in the way it once was, my grandmother prayed to the saints for me and my heart still knows the pathways of belief in a divine being.  There is so much of value in this pages that reach toward the realms of miracles and saints and things we cannot understand but dearly want to.  I loved the focus on the written word and how it is so powerful that popes and kings lost their minds over common people having access to it.  Canticle is a slow read, and while there is definitely plot there is mostly Aleys's inner life and the inner lives of the men of the church that have power of her mortal body - but what you come to realize is that no one has power over Aleys's beautiful soul.