Claire Gilbert grew up in London, of Jewish, Scots, Spanish and English heritage. She writes and speaks about ethics and spirituality in politics and public life, medicine, ecology and on Julian of Norwich. She is Director of Westminster Abbey Institute. With her partner Sean she divides her time between London, Hastings and Ireland.
Brilliantly inventive
*Daily Telegraph*
Claire has brought Julian of Norwich to life in the most miraculous
way
*Mark Patrick Hederman, OSB*
The clarity of the prose is striking, as is the ultimate serenity
of Julian's contemplation.
*Spectator*
I was completely hooked and considerably moved by the life and
thoughts of this exceptional woman
*Jeremy Irons*
What a wonderful book! It is as if we have finally found the lost
autobiography of one of the medieval world's most important women.
Julian's voice rings out true on every page and a deep
understanding of her world and her work underpins each line. It is
a joy to read.
*Janina Ramirez, historian, author and broadcaster, Oxford
University*
There have been a few other writers who have tried to fill out the
human hinterland of Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine
Love?, but I can't think of any who have done so quite as
persuasively and richly as this. Written with profound insight,
spiritual and psychological, and a rare sensitivity to the everyday
world of the fourteenth century, it is a brilliantly illuminating
companion to one of the greatest works of spiritual writing in
English.
*Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, Magdalene
College, University of Cambridge*
Claire Gilbert inhabits Julian of Norwich in the way that Hilary
Mantel immersed herself in Cromwell. This is living fiction.
*Sarah Sands*
. . . extraordinarily deft and sensitive. This book is going to
introduce many new readers to Julian and inspire others who know
her slightly to go back with fresh eyes and a reinvigorated sense
of how her writing developed and in what sort of historical
setting. It really is a striking book, and an impressive
achievement.
*Nicholas Watson, Harvard University*
I, Julian, is a tour de force, a rich reimagining of the life of
Julian of Norwich and a disturbing evocation of the life of the
merchant class in Norwich in the fourteenth century
*Julia Neuberger*
This is a rich and intriguing book, which is profoundly
thought-provoking and helps the reader to get to know Julian in an
entirely new way
*Paula Gooder*
both gripping and profoundly believable
*Santha Bhattacharji, Fellow Emeritus, St Benet’s Hall, University
of Oxford*
'Claire Gilbert has written a freshly modern fiction about the
famous mystic which lives and breathes the life of the fourteenth
century: the stench and terror of plague; the intolerance of the
late medieval church. Even more remarkably, she has plausibly drawn
the inner prayer-life, the self-doubt, the loneliness and the quiet
faith of this great genius. It is a beautiful, intensely moving
achievement which not only excites literary admiration: it renews
the reader's faith that 'all shall be well'.
*A. N. Wison*
Her novel's appeal comes from the care with which she places her
story in its historical context.
*Church Times*
I, Julian is a wonderful reminder that part of the mystery of
fiction is its capacity to lighten the heart, give an adrenaline
kick, and strip away preconceptions.
*Christianity Today Ficton Prize juding panel, 2023*
A triumph ... the few known facts, Gilbert creates a credible and
heartbreaking story ... there is much to learn today from Julian's
own writings and this wonderful reimagining of her life.
*The Historical Novel Society*
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