Julian of Norwich: A Contemplative Biography

The first fully-realized biography of Julian of Norwich—theologian, anchorite, and visionary of the Middle Ages.

A groundbreaking and sometimes controversial biography that offers full tribute to the mystic Julian of Norwich. In May 1373, a thirty year-old woman living in East Anglia suffered an illness. She received visions—what she later called "sixteen showings"—revealing to her secrets of the love of God. When she fully recovered, Julian recorded and richly explored those revelations, creating what became the first English-language book written by a woman.

Drawing on Julian's own writings, Frykholm's biography paints a vivid picture of the 14th century and this remarkable woman's place in it. Through plague, church corruption, economic devastation, and great personal loss, she presciently addressed her culture's greatest fears and anxieties. Ultimately, Julian of Norwich's life is shrouded in mystery, and yet she has become a significant figure in contemporary spirituality today.


"Frykholm...has audaciously done something many people would have said was not possible: written [Julian's] biography. Frykholm has combined a careful reading of Julian's writings (at times scrupulous, at times midrashic, but at all times attentive) with a deep immersion in the scholarship of 14th-century England to offer an informed and absorbing...account of Julian's life."

-Lauren F. Winner, Books & Culture

"[Frykhom's] narrative, which she calls 'an act of empathetic imagination,' crackles with life."

-The Denver Post

"A sympathetic and realistic portrayal of a saint who, as it turns out, is both holy (that is, set apart) and as complicated as you and me....It reads with the energy of a novel and the insight of a spiritual classic."

-Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Christianity Today