I, Julian: The Fictional Autobiography of Julian of Norwich
This reimagining of the life of the anchoress and mystic Julian of Norwich is a triumph. Taking the few known facts, Gilbert creates a credible and heartbreaking story of life during the plague years of the late 14th century. From the charming little vignette of Julian the child astride her father’s shoulders while he takes her round their small-holding, we’re plunged into her first heart-break when she says, ‘I know I am safe, that I will always be safe because my father is here. And suddenly, he is not here.’
The plague takes him and later her mother, her husband and her only daughter. How is she to go on? Julian eventually receives a vision and becomes a recluse. The day she is walled up is described in chilling tones. She lives in her tiny cell for the rest of her life, except that this is a story not of death and despair but of life affirming itself.
Through the window of her cell she is ever-present, listening and offering guidance to the stream of pilgrims who come to her. In old age she decides to have it written down, her pages gathered under the title ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ by those who revered her wisdom.
I have one small caveat, to do with Gilbert’s timeline, where she blames Richard II for things he could never have done; for example, he could never have actively persecuted the Lollards in 1377. He was ten years old, controlled by John of Gaunt, head of the King’s Council. When Gaunt’s son grabbed Richard’s crown and called himself Henry IV, his first act was to establish the law of haeretico comburendo, burning at the stake, for those who objected to him. This was why Julian had to tread carefully in her later years. Her bishop, as a supporter of Richard, paid the ultimate penalty. Rough times!
There is much to learn today from Julian’s own writings and this wonderful reimagining of her life.
