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For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain
An astounding debut, both epic and intimate, about grief, trauma, revelation, and the hidden lives of women - by a major new talent
In the year of 1413, two women meet for the first time in the city of Norwich.
Margery has left her fourteen children and husband behind to make her journey. Her visions of Christ - which have long alienated her from her family and neighbours, and incurred her husband's abuse - have placed her in danger with the men of the Church, who have begun to hound her as a heretic.
Julian, an anchoress, has not left Norwich, nor the cell to which she has been confined, for twenty-three years. She has told no one of her own visions - and knows that time is running out for her to do so.
The two women have stories to tell one another. Stories about girlhood, motherhood, sickness, loss, doubt and belief; revelations more the powerful than the world is ready to hear. Their meeting will change everything.
Sensual, vivid and humane, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain cracks history open to reveal the lives of two extraordinary women
In the year of 1413, two women meet for the first time in the city of Norwich.
Margery has left her fourteen children and husband behind to make her journey. Her visions of Christ - which have long alienated her from her family and neighbours, and incurred her husband's abuse - have placed her in danger with the men of the Church, who have begun to hound her as a heretic.
Julian, an anchoress, has not left Norwich, nor the cell to which she has been confined, for twenty-three years. She has told no one of her own visions - and knows that time is running out for her to do so.
The two women have stories to tell one another. Stories about girlhood, motherhood, sickness, loss, doubt and belief; revelations more the powerful than the world is ready to hear. Their meeting will change everything.
Sensual, vivid and humane, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain cracks history open to reveal the lives of two extraordinary women
166 pages, Hardcover
First published January 19, 2023
80 people are currently reading
5974 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 512 reviews
March 28, 2024
Beautifully written, thought-provoking and powerful.
November 28, 2022
Two female medieval mystics, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, are the twin protagonists of Mackenzie’s debut. She allows each to tell her life story through alternating first-person strands that only braid together very late on when she posits that Margery visited Julian in her cell and took into safekeeping the manuscript of her “shewings.” I finished reading Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love earlier this year and, apart from a couple of biographical details (she lost her husband and baby daughter to an outbreak of plague, and didn’t leave her cell in Norwich for 23 years), this added little to my experience of her work.
I didn’t know Margery’s story, so found her sections a little more interesting. A married mother of 14, she earned scorn for preaching, prophesying and weeping in public. Again and again, she was told to know her place and not dare to speak on behalf of God or question the clergy. She was a bold and passionate woman, and the accusations of heresy were no doubt motivated by a wish to see her humiliated for claiming spiritual authority. But nowadays, we would doubtless question her mental health – likewise for Julian when you learn that her shewings arose from a time of fevered hallucination. If you’re new to these figures, you might be captivated by their bizarre life stories and religious obsession, but I thought the bare telling was somewhat lacking in literary interest.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
I didn’t know Margery’s story, so found her sections a little more interesting. A married mother of 14, she earned scorn for preaching, prophesying and weeping in public. Again and again, she was told to know her place and not dare to speak on behalf of God or question the clergy. She was a bold and passionate woman, and the accusations of heresy were no doubt motivated by a wish to see her humiliated for claiming spiritual authority. But nowadays, we would doubtless question her mental health – likewise for Julian when you learn that her shewings arose from a time of fevered hallucination. If you’re new to these figures, you might be captivated by their bizarre life stories and religious obsession, but I thought the bare telling was somewhat lacking in literary interest.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
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June 12, 2023Easily one of the most raw, beautiful, and poetic historical fiction books you’ll ever read, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain is a true triumph of feminist literature.
This 160-page novel tells the story of two medieval women who existed at the same time, both of whom wrote two valuable texts that were almost lost to time — one of which was the first known book written in English by a woman.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/best-historic...
This 160-page novel tells the story of two medieval women who existed at the same time, both of whom wrote two valuable texts that were almost lost to time — one of which was the first known book written in English by a woman.
My full thoughts: https://booksandbao.com/best-historic...
November 21, 2023
I do not share the faith of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, but I loved this book. Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe were Medieval women who claimed to have had visions in which God spoke to them, a claim for which they could have burned as heretics. Julian, fearful of retribution, chose the solitary life of an anchoress, while Margery, married with many children, chose to proclaim her visions making her a laughing stock who was attacked and threatened by clergy.
Victoria Mackenzie brings the women to life in alternating first person narratives. I could see the quiet, contemplative Julian alone in her cell, offering wisdom and comfort to those who came to her window and I could see and hear the boisterous, crazy-sounding Margery hectoring her neighbors and husband with her copious weeping and accepting coins and abuse for sharing her visions of being with Jesus, Mary, and the saints and repeating all the promises God made to her.
One woman, secure in the source of her visions, hid her visions and one, plagued with doubt, risked everything to share her messages from God. Both women left a record of their thoughts, Julia in Revelations of Divine Thought and Margery in The Book of Margery Kempe. Victoria Mackenzie reminds us that, “These two books, both so nearly lost for ever, are two of the most important books written in the medieval period-and they are both by women”
I highly this novella to readers of any world view.
Victoria Mackenzie brings the women to life in alternating first person narratives. I could see the quiet, contemplative Julian alone in her cell, offering wisdom and comfort to those who came to her window and I could see and hear the boisterous, crazy-sounding Margery hectoring her neighbors and husband with her copious weeping and accepting coins and abuse for sharing her visions of being with Jesus, Mary, and the saints and repeating all the promises God made to her.
One woman, secure in the source of her visions, hid her visions and one, plagued with doubt, risked everything to share her messages from God. Both women left a record of their thoughts, Julia in Revelations of Divine Thought and Margery in The Book of Margery Kempe. Victoria Mackenzie reminds us that, “These two books, both so nearly lost for ever, are two of the most important books written in the medieval period-and they are both by women”
I highly this novella to readers of any world view.
January 20, 2024
Mych was the holy dalyawns that the ankres and this creatur haddyn be comownyng in the lofe of owyr Lord Jhesu Crist many days that thei were togedyr
MARGERY: Sorrow feels very long to me.
JULIAN: When we suffer, we are blinded. But believe me when I tell you this. It is what God wants all Christians to know. All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain is a beautifully crafted and compassionate novel based on the lives of, and an encounter between, two 15th century mystics, the anchoress Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, from Norfolk’s other main town, Bishop’s Lynn (now King's Lynn).
The actual encounter between the two is attested to in Kempe’s own account, written via dictation - see below. Mackenzie re-imagines it, building on what is this account, including suggesting that Julian may have passed her own manuscript to the younger woman for safe-keeping.
The faith of both women, and their closeness to Christ, shines through the text, which also focuses on their fallability, Kempe's vanity and Julian's loneliness.
MARGERY
It was after this that Jesus Christ appeared, sitting on the edge of my bed, very handsome and clad in a mantle of purple silk. He looked at me with so blessed a countenance that I felt my spirit strengthen. He said, 'Daughter, why have you forsaken me, when I never forsook you?'
JULIAN
I didn't marry again, but returned to my mother's house, where we lived just the two of us. After about ten years, when I was thirty, I became very ill. For three nights I lay on my bed whilst fire and ice swept through me. On the fourth day, the priest put his fat thumb on my brow and I felt cold oil slip into my ear. My mother's finger closed my eyelids and in this way I knew I was not expected to live.
But then, without opening my eyes, I saw the priest's crucifix before me. I stared at the face of Our Lord and the crown of thorns that cut into his head. I stared at the painted blood that ran down his cheeks. But it was not paint: he was a living man, with hot blood pouring from his wounds. This was the first of my shewings.
The challenges that they face as women in a culture where only male priest were expected to preach, and visions of God were played down, are brought out powerfully. I would perhaps like to have seen more of Julian's theological wrestlings, although they do come through in the powerful end section when the two meet.
The book was recommended to me by Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer - who also lent me his copy, and his review captures more of the novel.
Highly recommended and a book that speaks powerfully to those of us with faith, but clearly also works for non-believers.
NOTES
Plus ça Change (from Lynn to Norwich)
When I set out for Norwich I felt such hope that my visit to the anchoress would ease my spiritual pains. But as I travelled east my mood sank. The land we rode through was very drab and I could not in all honesty have called those cabbage fields splendid.
Norwich itself is grey and stinks of fish; there are many people bustling around and they all seem to be foreigners, so strange are their robes and voices.
Margery Kempe's historical account of their meeting
And than sche was bodyn be owyr Lord for to gon to an ankres in the same cyté whych hyte Dame Jelyan. And so sche dede and schewyd hir the grace that God put in hir sowle of compunccyon, contricyon, swetnesse and devocyon, compassyon wyth holy meditacyon and hy contemplacyon, and ful many holy spechys and dalyawns that owyr Lord spak to hir sowle, and many wondirful revelacyons whech sche schewyd to the ankres to wetyn yf ther wer any deceyte in hem, for the ankres was expert in swech thyngys and good cownsel cowd gevyn.
The ankres, heryng the mervelyows goodnes of owyr Lord, hyly thankyd God wyth al hir hert for hys visitacyon, cownselyng this creatur to be obedyent to the wyl of owyr Lord God and fulfyllyn wyth al hir mygthys whatevyr he put in hir sowle yf it wer not ageyn the worshep of God and profyte of hir evyn cristen, for, yf it wer, than it wer nowt the mevyng of a good spyryte but rathyr of an evyl spyrit. The Holy Gost mevyth nevyr a thing ageyn charité, and, yf he dede, he wer contraryows to hys owyn self, for he is al charité. Also he mevyth a sowle to al chastnesse, for chast levars be clepyd the temple of the Holy Gost, and the Holy Gost makyth a sowle stabyl and stedfast in the rygth feyth and the rygth beleve. And a dubbyl man in sowle is evyr unstabyl and unstedfast in al hys weys. He that is evyrmor dowtyng is lyke to the flood of the see, the whech is mevyd and born abowte wyth the wynd, and that man is not lyche to receyven the gyftys of God.
What creatur that hath thes tokenys he muste stedfastlych belevyn that the Holy Gost dwellyth in hys sowle. And mech mor, whan God visyteth a creatur wyth terys of contrisyon, devosyon, er compassyon, he may and owyth to levyn that the Holy Gost is in hys sowle. Seynt Powyl seyth that the Holy Gost askyth for us wyth mornynggys and wepyngys unspekable, that is to seyn, he makyth us to askyn and preyn wyth mornynggys and wepyngys so plentyuowsly that the terys may not be nowmeryd. Ther may non evyl spyrit gevyn thes tokenys, for Jerom seyth that terys turmentyn mor the devylle than don the peynes of helle. God and the devyl ben evyrmor contraryows, and thei schal nevyr dwellyn togedyr in on place, and the devyl hath no powyr in a mannys sowle. Holy Wryt seyth that the sowle of a rytful man is the sete of God, and so I trust, syster, that ye ben. I prey God grawnt yow perseverawns. Settyth al yowr trust in God and feryth not the langage of the world, for the mor despyte, schame, and repref that ye have in the world the mor is yowr meryte in the sygth of God. Pacyens is necessary unto yow for in that schal ye kepyn yowr sowle.
Mych was the holy dalyawns that the ankres and this creatur haddyn be comownyng in the lofe of owyr Lord Jhesu Crist many days that thei were togedyr.
Translation by ChatGPT (quite impressed with it doing this):
Then she was instructed by our Lord to visit an anchorite in the same city named Dame Julian. Following His command, she revealed the grace that God had infused into her soul, including compunction, contrition, sweetness, and devotion, along with compassion through holy meditation and high contemplation. She shared numerous holy speeches and dialogues that our Lord spoke to her soul, as well as many wonderful revelations. Seeking the anchorite’s counsel, she disclosed these experiences to ascertain if there was any deceit in them, given the anchorite’s expertise in such matters.
Upon hearing the marvelous goodness of our Lord, the anchorite thanked God wholeheartedly for His visitation. She advised the woman to be obedient to the will of our Lord God and to fulfill with all her might whatever He placed in her soul, as long as it did not go against the worship of God and the benefit of her fellow Christians. The anchorite emphasized that any contrary movement would not be from a good spirit but rather from an evil spirit. The Holy Ghost never moves against charity, for He is all charity. He moves a soul towards all chastity, as chaste hearts are called the temple of the Holy Ghost, and He makes a soul stable in the right faith and belief.
The anchorite continued to explain that a double-minded person in the soul is always unstable and unsteady in all their ways. One who is constantly doubting is like the sea’s flood, moved and tossed about by the wind. Such a person is not receptive to God’s gifts. A creature displaying these signs must steadfastly believe that the Holy Ghost dwells in their soul. Moreover, when God visits a creature with tears of contrition, devotion, or compassion, the individual can and should believe that the Holy Ghost is present in their soul.
Quoting Saint Paul, the anchorite mentioned that the Holy Ghost intercedes for us with morning and weeping that cannot be expressed, meaning that He inspires us to pray abundantly with tears beyond counting. These signs cannot be given by an evil spirit, as tears torment the devil more than the pains of hell. God and the devil are always contrary, and they will never dwell together. The devil has no power over a person’s soul. Holy Scripture states that the soul of a righteous person is the seat of God, and the anchorite trusted that the woman was such. She encouraged her to place all her trust in God and not fear the world’s language, as the more disdain, shame, and reproach she faced in the world, the greater her merit in God’s sight. Patience was deemed necessary for her, as it would safeguard her soul.
Many were the holy dialogues shared between the anchorite and the woman through their communion in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ during the days they spent together.
MARGERY: Sorrow feels very long to me.
JULIAN: When we suffer, we are blinded. But believe me when I tell you this. It is what God wants all Christians to know. All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain is a beautifully crafted and compassionate novel based on the lives of, and an encounter between, two 15th century mystics, the anchoress Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, from Norfolk’s other main town, Bishop’s Lynn (now King's Lynn).
The actual encounter between the two is attested to in Kempe’s own account, written via dictation - see below. Mackenzie re-imagines it, building on what is this account, including suggesting that Julian may have passed her own manuscript to the younger woman for safe-keeping.
The faith of both women, and their closeness to Christ, shines through the text, which also focuses on their fallability, Kempe's vanity and Julian's loneliness.
MARGERY
It was after this that Jesus Christ appeared, sitting on the edge of my bed, very handsome and clad in a mantle of purple silk. He looked at me with so blessed a countenance that I felt my spirit strengthen. He said, 'Daughter, why have you forsaken me, when I never forsook you?'
JULIAN
I didn't marry again, but returned to my mother's house, where we lived just the two of us. After about ten years, when I was thirty, I became very ill. For three nights I lay on my bed whilst fire and ice swept through me. On the fourth day, the priest put his fat thumb on my brow and I felt cold oil slip into my ear. My mother's finger closed my eyelids and in this way I knew I was not expected to live.
But then, without opening my eyes, I saw the priest's crucifix before me. I stared at the face of Our Lord and the crown of thorns that cut into his head. I stared at the painted blood that ran down his cheeks. But it was not paint: he was a living man, with hot blood pouring from his wounds. This was the first of my shewings.
The challenges that they face as women in a culture where only male priest were expected to preach, and visions of God were played down, are brought out powerfully. I would perhaps like to have seen more of Julian's theological wrestlings, although they do come through in the powerful end section when the two meet.
The book was recommended to me by Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer - who also lent me his copy, and his review captures more of the novel.
Highly recommended and a book that speaks powerfully to those of us with faith, but clearly also works for non-believers.
NOTES
Plus ça Change (from Lynn to Norwich)
When I set out for Norwich I felt such hope that my visit to the anchoress would ease my spiritual pains. But as I travelled east my mood sank. The land we rode through was very drab and I could not in all honesty have called those cabbage fields splendid.
Norwich itself is grey and stinks of fish; there are many people bustling around and they all seem to be foreigners, so strange are their robes and voices.
Margery Kempe's historical account of their meeting
And than sche was bodyn be owyr Lord for to gon to an ankres in the same cyté whych hyte Dame Jelyan. And so sche dede and schewyd hir the grace that God put in hir sowle of compunccyon, contricyon, swetnesse and devocyon, compassyon wyth holy meditacyon and hy contemplacyon, and ful many holy spechys and dalyawns that owyr Lord spak to hir sowle, and many wondirful revelacyons whech sche schewyd to the ankres to wetyn yf ther wer any deceyte in hem, for the ankres was expert in swech thyngys and good cownsel cowd gevyn.
The ankres, heryng the mervelyows goodnes of owyr Lord, hyly thankyd God wyth al hir hert for hys visitacyon, cownselyng this creatur to be obedyent to the wyl of owyr Lord God and fulfyllyn wyth al hir mygthys whatevyr he put in hir sowle yf it wer not ageyn the worshep of God and profyte of hir evyn cristen, for, yf it wer, than it wer nowt the mevyng of a good spyryte but rathyr of an evyl spyrit. The Holy Gost mevyth nevyr a thing ageyn charité, and, yf he dede, he wer contraryows to hys owyn self, for he is al charité. Also he mevyth a sowle to al chastnesse, for chast levars be clepyd the temple of the Holy Gost, and the Holy Gost makyth a sowle stabyl and stedfast in the rygth feyth and the rygth beleve. And a dubbyl man in sowle is evyr unstabyl and unstedfast in al hys weys. He that is evyrmor dowtyng is lyke to the flood of the see, the whech is mevyd and born abowte wyth the wynd, and that man is not lyche to receyven the gyftys of God.
What creatur that hath thes tokenys he muste stedfastlych belevyn that the Holy Gost dwellyth in hys sowle. And mech mor, whan God visyteth a creatur wyth terys of contrisyon, devosyon, er compassyon, he may and owyth to levyn that the Holy Gost is in hys sowle. Seynt Powyl seyth that the Holy Gost askyth for us wyth mornynggys and wepyngys unspekable, that is to seyn, he makyth us to askyn and preyn wyth mornynggys and wepyngys so plentyuowsly that the terys may not be nowmeryd. Ther may non evyl spyrit gevyn thes tokenys, for Jerom seyth that terys turmentyn mor the devylle than don the peynes of helle. God and the devyl ben evyrmor contraryows, and thei schal nevyr dwellyn togedyr in on place, and the devyl hath no powyr in a mannys sowle. Holy Wryt seyth that the sowle of a rytful man is the sete of God, and so I trust, syster, that ye ben. I prey God grawnt yow perseverawns. Settyth al yowr trust in God and feryth not the langage of the world, for the mor despyte, schame, and repref that ye have in the world the mor is yowr meryte in the sygth of God. Pacyens is necessary unto yow for in that schal ye kepyn yowr sowle.
Mych was the holy dalyawns that the ankres and this creatur haddyn be comownyng in the lofe of owyr Lord Jhesu Crist many days that thei were togedyr.
Translation by ChatGPT (quite impressed with it doing this):
Then she was instructed by our Lord to visit an anchorite in the same city named Dame Julian. Following His command, she revealed the grace that God had infused into her soul, including compunction, contrition, sweetness, and devotion, along with compassion through holy meditation and high contemplation. She shared numerous holy speeches and dialogues that our Lord spoke to her soul, as well as many wonderful revelations. Seeking the anchorite’s counsel, she disclosed these experiences to ascertain if there was any deceit in them, given the anchorite’s expertise in such matters.
Upon hearing the marvelous goodness of our Lord, the anchorite thanked God wholeheartedly for His visitation. She advised the woman to be obedient to the will of our Lord God and to fulfill with all her might whatever He placed in her soul, as long as it did not go against the worship of God and the benefit of her fellow Christians. The anchorite emphasized that any contrary movement would not be from a good spirit but rather from an evil spirit. The Holy Ghost never moves against charity, for He is all charity. He moves a soul towards all chastity, as chaste hearts are called the temple of the Holy Ghost, and He makes a soul stable in the right faith and belief.
The anchorite continued to explain that a double-minded person in the soul is always unstable and unsteady in all their ways. One who is constantly doubting is like the sea’s flood, moved and tossed about by the wind. Such a person is not receptive to God’s gifts. A creature displaying these signs must steadfastly believe that the Holy Ghost dwells in their soul. Moreover, when God visits a creature with tears of contrition, devotion, or compassion, the individual can and should believe that the Holy Ghost is present in their soul.
Quoting Saint Paul, the anchorite mentioned that the Holy Ghost intercedes for us with morning and weeping that cannot be expressed, meaning that He inspires us to pray abundantly with tears beyond counting. These signs cannot be given by an evil spirit, as tears torment the devil more than the pains of hell. God and the devil are always contrary, and they will never dwell together. The devil has no power over a person’s soul. Holy Scripture states that the soul of a righteous person is the seat of God, and the anchorite trusted that the woman was such. She encouraged her to place all her trust in God and not fear the world’s language, as the more disdain, shame, and reproach she faced in the world, the greater her merit in God’s sight. Patience was deemed necessary for her, as it would safeguard her soul.
Many were the holy dialogues shared between the anchorite and the woman through their communion in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ during the days they spent together.
January 24, 2023
A gem of a book.
October 16, 2022
One of my favourite non-fiction reads of the year so far is Janina Ramírez's Femina, which was my first real exposure to the lives (and historical significance) of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe. For Thy Great Pain... feels like the perfect fictional follow-up, giving voice to these two fascinating women from the Middle Ages.
Mackenzie's novella is compact and neatly structured, weaving the two women's perspectives until they finally meet. Though they are very different characters, by putting their stories side by side, Mackenzie picks out common threads that bind the two together - not just faith, but femininity, grief and the power of language.
A brief, but beautiful little book.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
Mackenzie's novella is compact and neatly structured, weaving the two women's perspectives until they finally meet. Though they are very different characters, by putting their stories side by side, Mackenzie picks out common threads that bind the two together - not just faith, but femininity, grief and the power of language.
A brief, but beautiful little book.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
December 8, 2022
This debut from Victoria MacKenzie is beautiful, insightful, moving, wry & inspiring. It hits a sweet spot for me between the literary and the irresistibly readable; the kind of book that sucks you right in and delivers you back to the world with fresh perspective.
The works of Margery Kempe (The Book of Margery Kempe) & Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love) are not obscure. But while their writings about mysticism have always fascinated me, the women themselves have often felt remote. I love that MacKenzie’s book has changed that, following the evolution of these two very different women from girlhood through to older age, drawing them inexorably closer with gentle and clear-eyed understanding.
The writing is elegant and striking, its metaphors deployed with a thrilling kind of precision. Short chapters alternate between the bold, self-aggrandising Margery and the educated, introspective Julian, their stories cleverly twining about each other. Margery’s loneliness and vulnerability come into relief as she struggles with the lack of power and authority that all women suffered during the period, her obedience to men expected in both church and family. Meanwhile, a grieving Julian abandons her secular life to occupy a small cell attached to a church in Norwich. Some of the most extraordinary passages in the novel describe Julian’s surrender to the limits of her cell, the infinite-external giving way to the infinite-internal. I’ll return to these luminous passages often, to the realisation of how large a life can be lived in a small space.
Margery’s mysticism may have been born of post-partum psychosis; Julian’s of delirium during illness. Whatever the true source, MacKenzie is excellent at invoking the dangers of its practice. Charges of heresy threaten. But are these women, already deprived of the right to public speech and influence, to give up their very thoughts, too? - their vivid mystical relationships with Christ?
These concerns ignite the novel’s terrifically poignant ending; transcendent, beautifully-crafted human connection. In many ways, a sublime novel.
The works of Margery Kempe (The Book of Margery Kempe) & Julian of Norwich (Revelations of Divine Love) are not obscure. But while their writings about mysticism have always fascinated me, the women themselves have often felt remote. I love that MacKenzie’s book has changed that, following the evolution of these two very different women from girlhood through to older age, drawing them inexorably closer with gentle and clear-eyed understanding.
The writing is elegant and striking, its metaphors deployed with a thrilling kind of precision. Short chapters alternate between the bold, self-aggrandising Margery and the educated, introspective Julian, their stories cleverly twining about each other. Margery’s loneliness and vulnerability come into relief as she struggles with the lack of power and authority that all women suffered during the period, her obedience to men expected in both church and family. Meanwhile, a grieving Julian abandons her secular life to occupy a small cell attached to a church in Norwich. Some of the most extraordinary passages in the novel describe Julian’s surrender to the limits of her cell, the infinite-external giving way to the infinite-internal. I’ll return to these luminous passages often, to the realisation of how large a life can be lived in a small space.
Margery’s mysticism may have been born of post-partum psychosis; Julian’s of delirium during illness. Whatever the true source, MacKenzie is excellent at invoking the dangers of its practice. Charges of heresy threaten. But are these women, already deprived of the right to public speech and influence, to give up their very thoughts, too? - their vivid mystical relationships with Christ?
These concerns ignite the novel’s terrifically poignant ending; transcendent, beautifully-crafted human connection. In many ways, a sublime novel.
August 24, 2023
This book was disappointing!! It did a good job of constructing two individual voices and captured Margery Kempe particularly well. And it kills me that ultimately I didn’t really like it because there are some beautiful passages and turns of phrase here. However, the whole thing lacked sensuality and place. This is the problem with modern authors tackling religious extremism or mysticism—it’s a passion!! And romance is the only genre that has the tools to really express obsession. It’s failing is the same as The Wonder, really. And I didn’t feel like the book was uniquely medieval or uniquely English. It was a chronicle of things that happened to each woman, with only some attempts at aligning the stories thematically.
Part of my problem for me, very possibly, is that I’ve never really enjoyed Margery Kempe. I read her memoir in part as assigned in college, but she never captivated me the way that Thomas Becket or Hildegard von Bingen did. Mostly, because her mysticism seemed clearly derived from what would be described as an emerging mental illness, rather than true orthodoxy (Becket) or higher consciousness (Hildy). Accordingly, I much more enjoyed Julian of Norwich’s sections and she is someone whose theology of compassion I have connected to over the years. But the opportunity to really build out her life and experiences was not really taken. Her theology of God as a mother was not really explored from the inside out. Their meeting would have made for a better short story or play, but it would have to be fleshed out considerably because it was very fleeting and anti-climactic. And there’s some stuff that was hinted at—Margaery’s neglect of her children vs Julian’s feminine theology, etc that would have been really cool! But were shunted.
Also, this book is characterized as lgbt????????????? On some sites?????????? I just. Okay.
This book could have been great but I just wanted to shake the author and say, “Don’t be afraid to get weird with it.”
Part of my problem for me, very possibly, is that I’ve never really enjoyed Margery Kempe. I read her memoir in part as assigned in college, but she never captivated me the way that Thomas Becket or Hildegard von Bingen did. Mostly, because her mysticism seemed clearly derived from what would be described as an emerging mental illness, rather than true orthodoxy (Becket) or higher consciousness (Hildy). Accordingly, I much more enjoyed Julian of Norwich’s sections and she is someone whose theology of compassion I have connected to over the years. But the opportunity to really build out her life and experiences was not really taken. Her theology of God as a mother was not really explored from the inside out. Their meeting would have made for a better short story or play, but it would have to be fleshed out considerably because it was very fleeting and anti-climactic. And there’s some stuff that was hinted at—Margaery’s neglect of her children vs Julian’s feminine theology, etc that would have been really cool! But were shunted.
Also, this book is characterized as lgbt????????????? On some sites?????????? I just. Okay.
This book could have been great but I just wanted to shake the author and say, “Don’t be afraid to get weird with it.”
October 27, 2025
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2024.
The book tells the story of two 15th century female mystics – Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe – alternating frequently between the perspectives of the two women. Both names were vaguely familiar to me but I knew pretty much nothing about their lives or their writings. I’m not sure if that was a help or a hindrance. On the one hand it meant I came to the book with no preconceptions but, on the other hand, it made it difficult for me to assess how much of the story was the product of the author’s imagination. Not having much interest in religious doctrine or a belief in visions, I appreciated the book more for the insight it gave into the lives of medieval women than anything else.
I found myself particuarly drawn to Julian’s story. I felt the author really managed to convey in a believable way Julian’s profound religious conviction and suggest credible reasons for her decision to seek a contemplative life. The detail about the life of an anchoress and the process of becoming one was absolutely fascinating and I liked the way the author brought out Julian’s feelings of isolation and her struggles with the daily realities of confinement. ‘I could take ten paces in one direction, turn and take six paces, turn and take eight paces, turn and take six paces. Ten. Six. Eight. Six. Ten. Six. Eight. Six. Ten. Six. Eight. Six.’
Who can say whether Margery’s visions were real – she obviously believed them to be – or the result of some sort of mental disorder, possibly post-natal depression. I found the rigour of her self-imposed regime disturbing. However, the fact she continued to share her visions in the face of suspicion, anger and ridicule, as well as accusations of heresy, speaks to the strength of her conviction. The Margery of the book is a woman of passion in all senses of the word, someone prepared to defy the constraints imposed on her on account of her sex. Apart from anything else, the fact she gave birth to fourteen children suggests remarkable resilience.
The meeting between the two women mentioned in the first sentence of the blurb only features at the very end of the book and is rather fleeting. This made the book feel slightly unbalanced. It also didn’t seem that consequential, just a sharing of their similar experiences.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain is a fascinating book and taught me a lot of things I didn’t know such as the fact that The Book of Margery Kempe is the first autobiography written in English by a man or woman and Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich is the earliest surviving book in English written by a woman. Its simple prose made it very readable but it didn’t completely enthrall me.
The book tells the story of two 15th century female mystics – Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe – alternating frequently between the perspectives of the two women. Both names were vaguely familiar to me but I knew pretty much nothing about their lives or their writings. I’m not sure if that was a help or a hindrance. On the one hand it meant I came to the book with no preconceptions but, on the other hand, it made it difficult for me to assess how much of the story was the product of the author’s imagination. Not having much interest in religious doctrine or a belief in visions, I appreciated the book more for the insight it gave into the lives of medieval women than anything else.
I found myself particuarly drawn to Julian’s story. I felt the author really managed to convey in a believable way Julian’s profound religious conviction and suggest credible reasons for her decision to seek a contemplative life. The detail about the life of an anchoress and the process of becoming one was absolutely fascinating and I liked the way the author brought out Julian’s feelings of isolation and her struggles with the daily realities of confinement. ‘I could take ten paces in one direction, turn and take six paces, turn and take eight paces, turn and take six paces. Ten. Six. Eight. Six. Ten. Six. Eight. Six. Ten. Six. Eight. Six.’
Who can say whether Margery’s visions were real – she obviously believed them to be – or the result of some sort of mental disorder, possibly post-natal depression. I found the rigour of her self-imposed regime disturbing. However, the fact she continued to share her visions in the face of suspicion, anger and ridicule, as well as accusations of heresy, speaks to the strength of her conviction. The Margery of the book is a woman of passion in all senses of the word, someone prepared to defy the constraints imposed on her on account of her sex. Apart from anything else, the fact she gave birth to fourteen children suggests remarkable resilience.
The meeting between the two women mentioned in the first sentence of the blurb only features at the very end of the book and is rather fleeting. This made the book feel slightly unbalanced. It also didn’t seem that consequential, just a sharing of their similar experiences.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain is a fascinating book and taught me a lot of things I didn’t know such as the fact that The Book of Margery Kempe is the first autobiography written in English by a man or woman and Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich is the earliest surviving book in English written by a woman. Its simple prose made it very readable but it didn’t completely enthrall me.
March 17, 2023
Having studied and enjoyed the works of both Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich during my Masters, I was excited to hear that there was a novella imagining a situation whereby the two women meet.
Unfortunately, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain was a huge disappointment. Despite being a novella, the book dragged on and was effectively little more than a description of the hardships the two women had faced. We all know that life was extremely hard during the Medieval times, and this was written realistically, but the premise spoke of a meeting; this did not occur until right at the end of the book and was fleeting to say the least.
The book does provide a good insight into how female mystics were treated – reviled, rather than revered as their male counterparts were – and it also provides information about religion at the time. It also acknowledges the women’s awareness of their flaws and vulnerabilities; despite their faith, they do not feel that they have been chosen. That said, neither woman comes across as likeable, and at times they both seem extremely selfish.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain is a brilliant concept, but sadly this little book does not deliver on its premise and was actually quite dull. If you are interested in this topic, I recommend reading the women’s original works, of which translations are available.
Unfortunately, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain was a huge disappointment. Despite being a novella, the book dragged on and was effectively little more than a description of the hardships the two women had faced. We all know that life was extremely hard during the Medieval times, and this was written realistically, but the premise spoke of a meeting; this did not occur until right at the end of the book and was fleeting to say the least.
The book does provide a good insight into how female mystics were treated – reviled, rather than revered as their male counterparts were – and it also provides information about religion at the time. It also acknowledges the women’s awareness of their flaws and vulnerabilities; despite their faith, they do not feel that they have been chosen. That said, neither woman comes across as likeable, and at times they both seem extremely selfish.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain is a brilliant concept, but sadly this little book does not deliver on its premise and was actually quite dull. If you are interested in this topic, I recommend reading the women’s original works, of which translations are available.
November 9, 2025
I really loved I, Julian by Claire Gilbert and Revelations by Mary Sharratt, and when I came across this book, I thought, surely we couldn't get three solid books about Julian of Norwich/Margery Kempe in the same few years (Revelations came out in 2021, and the other two in 2023). It was hard to get a hold of For Thy Great Pain... in the USA without paying full price for a new copy, so I waited. When I moved to Scotland, I joined the local Fife library system, and lo and behold, they had a copy of this book, which is by an author from Fife. Incredible. A divine appointment!
For Thy Great Pain... is told in the two voices of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, their life stories before they meet, their meeting, and the aftermath. Mackenzie has clearly done her research (at the beginning, it's a little explain-y, but it gets better as it goes on...do you think they would always have specified the fabric of an everyday shirt, for example?) and, most importantly, has clearly spent lots of time in the texts. She relied on the Spearing translation of Revelations of Divine Love, which I've read several times, and the Windeatt translation of The Book of Margery Kempe, which I haven't read but I do love Windeatt's translation of Julian.
I thought Mackenzie did a great job overall capturing the medieval mindset of her characters, and respecting the history while also writing her own novel. The focus of this short book is entirely on the inner spiritual lives of Julian and Margery. I really loved that, especially the intimacy it allowed me to feel with each character. For Thy Great Pain... also made me want to return to the sources, not because it didn't do justice to them, but because it made the historical figures come alive so beautifully. Mackenzie writes them as souls, not just as bodies and minds and hearts (though she does that too, Rose Campbell!).
A couple things that should have been in the epilogue: the reason these two books "are two of the most important books written in the medieval period" (161) is because Julian's is the first work of theology written in English, and Margery Kempe's is the first memoir written in English. That is why they are so important: not just because they are interesting, but because they founded two genres in the vernacular. Some scholars estimate that Julian influenced Chaucer, and thus had a greater impact on the English language than previously estimated.
The only things holding me back from five stars are a few occasions where I felt Mackenzie made the characters say things they wouldn't have said (Julian saying there was no hell, for example) but this is rare. I also found the rather brief sections of the two voices sometimes jarring; on a two-page spread it was not uncommon to go back and forth more than once. Yet! Yet, this made me think, this would be an amazing two-person play. Get on that while I'm local to you, Mackenzie, pretty please.
Recommended to those interested in Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and medieval women's spirituality. If you are intimidated by the source materials, starting here might make you more interested and orient you to the format of Revelations of Divine Love and the arc of The Book of Margery Kempe. I haven't even read that one yet (mea culpa!), but you know what I'll be picking up at the library tomorrow!
For Thy Great Pain... is told in the two voices of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, their life stories before they meet, their meeting, and the aftermath. Mackenzie has clearly done her research (at the beginning, it's a little explain-y, but it gets better as it goes on...do you think they would always have specified the fabric of an everyday shirt, for example?) and, most importantly, has clearly spent lots of time in the texts. She relied on the Spearing translation of Revelations of Divine Love, which I've read several times, and the Windeatt translation of The Book of Margery Kempe, which I haven't read but I do love Windeatt's translation of Julian.
I thought Mackenzie did a great job overall capturing the medieval mindset of her characters, and respecting the history while also writing her own novel. The focus of this short book is entirely on the inner spiritual lives of Julian and Margery. I really loved that, especially the intimacy it allowed me to feel with each character. For Thy Great Pain... also made me want to return to the sources, not because it didn't do justice to them, but because it made the historical figures come alive so beautifully. Mackenzie writes them as souls, not just as bodies and minds and hearts (though she does that too, Rose Campbell!).
A couple things that should have been in the epilogue: the reason these two books "are two of the most important books written in the medieval period" (161) is because Julian's is the first work of theology written in English, and Margery Kempe's is the first memoir written in English. That is why they are so important: not just because they are interesting, but because they founded two genres in the vernacular. Some scholars estimate that Julian influenced Chaucer, and thus had a greater impact on the English language than previously estimated.
The only things holding me back from five stars are a few occasions where I felt Mackenzie made the characters say things they wouldn't have said (Julian saying there was no hell, for example) but this is rare. I also found the rather brief sections of the two voices sometimes jarring; on a two-page spread it was not uncommon to go back and forth more than once. Yet! Yet, this made me think, this would be an amazing two-person play. Get on that while I'm local to you, Mackenzie, pretty please.
Recommended to those interested in Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, and medieval women's spirituality. If you are intimidated by the source materials, starting here might make you more interested and orient you to the format of Revelations of Divine Love and the arc of The Book of Margery Kempe. I haven't even read that one yet (mea culpa!), but you know what I'll be picking up at the library tomorrow!
January 7, 2023
This debut novella is told in short fragments, switching between first-person narration from the significant late fourteenth-century and early fifteenth-century female religious writers, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe. As Victoria Mackenzie notes in her afterword, Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love is the earliest book written in English by a woman, while Margery’s dictated The Book of Margery Kempe is the first autobiography in English by anybody at all. As my knowledge of these two figures is pretty limited, it’s hard to say how For Thy Great Pain... would read to somebody who knows more about them; but I thought the clarity and simplicity with which Mackenzie conveyed the ideas these women struggled with was impressive. While both wrestle with their relationship to God, I found that this novella both evoked how serious and important these questions were in the late medieval period, and had resonance for modern readers who don’t consider themselves to be religious.
In the early sections, I struggled to tell Julian and Margery’s voices apart, but as the novel unfolds, Mackenzie establishes their distinctive characters and their very different attitudes to their holy visions. This novella focuses on Julian’s time as an anchoress – she spent the last twenty-plus years of her life in a cell annexed to St Julian's Church in Norwich, with no physical contact with another human being. Mackenzie beautifully handles Julian’s early difficulties in her isolation, and also the reasons why she chooses it. 'I had wanted to prolong each moment of my life, to get closer to experiencing time as God experiences it: not the instantly dissolving moment, but something larger and more encompassing. A stillness that doesn't pass as soon as you think yourself into it. I'd thought I would live as slowly as moss in my stone cell. But... I was myself, with all my usual racing thoughts'.
In contrast, Margery is perhaps less obviously sympathetic as she roams around, telling others of her visions and crying publicly and loudly about the sufferings of Christ. Mackenzie writes her with wry humour, letting her desire to be remembered as a saint and comfort herself by thinking how she will be adored by God, Jesus and Mary in heaven even though she is mocked on earth. However, the clever choice to juxtapose Margery’s story with Julian’s allows us to take her on her own terms rather than having to read her as a symbol of how all medieval merchant women engaged with religious faith. We can see how her ostentatious holiness serves her in a patriarchal society, allowing her to do otherwise forbidden things like neglecting her children and refusing to have sex with her husband. While Julian’s backstory is more likely to appeal to the modern reader – tragically widowed, losing her only child, unable to understand Margery’s ingratitude for her fourteen children – Margery brings us closer to the otherness of the medieval past.
Despite the theological subject-matter, this book flowed so naturally that I found it difficult to put down, and even if I was sometimes inclined to skim the Margery sections to get back to Julian, I admired Mackenzie’s intentions in telling both of these stories.
In the early sections, I struggled to tell Julian and Margery’s voices apart, but as the novel unfolds, Mackenzie establishes their distinctive characters and their very different attitudes to their holy visions. This novella focuses on Julian’s time as an anchoress – she spent the last twenty-plus years of her life in a cell annexed to St Julian's Church in Norwich, with no physical contact with another human being. Mackenzie beautifully handles Julian’s early difficulties in her isolation, and also the reasons why she chooses it. 'I had wanted to prolong each moment of my life, to get closer to experiencing time as God experiences it: not the instantly dissolving moment, but something larger and more encompassing. A stillness that doesn't pass as soon as you think yourself into it. I'd thought I would live as slowly as moss in my stone cell. But... I was myself, with all my usual racing thoughts'.
In contrast, Margery is perhaps less obviously sympathetic as she roams around, telling others of her visions and crying publicly and loudly about the sufferings of Christ. Mackenzie writes her with wry humour, letting her desire to be remembered as a saint and comfort herself by thinking how she will be adored by God, Jesus and Mary in heaven even though she is mocked on earth. However, the clever choice to juxtapose Margery’s story with Julian’s allows us to take her on her own terms rather than having to read her as a symbol of how all medieval merchant women engaged with religious faith. We can see how her ostentatious holiness serves her in a patriarchal society, allowing her to do otherwise forbidden things like neglecting her children and refusing to have sex with her husband. While Julian’s backstory is more likely to appeal to the modern reader – tragically widowed, losing her only child, unable to understand Margery’s ingratitude for her fourteen children – Margery brings us closer to the otherness of the medieval past.
Despite the theological subject-matter, this book flowed so naturally that I found it difficult to put down, and even if I was sometimes inclined to skim the Margery sections to get back to Julian, I admired Mackenzie’s intentions in telling both of these stories.
April 4, 2023
This book was a heart wrenching tale of two women and their coming together in a world and society that see them as nothing more than wives and mothers. It elicited such rage within me, which I'm sure was intended. However I feel like I may have been too dumb for this book, or maybe it simply just missed the mark for me.
2.5/5
2.5/5
December 18, 2022
Victoria MacKenzie’s new novella, Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, is set in Norfolk in 1413 and imagines a meeting between two real-life women: Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe. If these names are familiar to you, you’ll know that they were both English mystics of the medieval period and were also both authors. Julian’s Revelations of Divine Love is thought to be the first English work we can be sure was written by a woman, while Margery’s The Book of Margery Kempe is considered to be the first autobiography in the English language.
The stories of the two women only converge towards the end of the book in a meeting which did take place according to Margery herself in The Book of Margery Kempe, but maybe not exactly as it is described here. Victoria MacKenzie recreates the events leading up to their encounter and the sort of conversation they may have had, but before reaching that point she explores the backgrounds of both women, with the perspective alternating between Margery and Julian as they follow very different paths through life.
Little is known of the real Julian’s early life, but MacKenzie suggests here that she may have lost her family to an outbreak of plague and that this, along with an illness during which she experienced visions or ‘shewings’ of Christ, influenced her decision to become an anchoress, secluded in a cell for twenty-three years. Margery, in contrast, doesn’t lock herself away, but remains in the secular world, a wife and mother of fourteen. Like Julian, she begins to have religious visions, but while Julian’s faith is personal and private, Margery prays, weeps and preaches in public, drawing attention to herself and leading to accusations of heresy.
This is Victoria MacKenzie’s debut novel and I admire her for writing something so unusual and original, but although I did like it, I couldn’t quite manage to love it. I found the structure and pacing very unbalanced, with the first section, telling the two separate tales in parallel, being by far the longest and the actual meeting at Julian’s cell being dealt with in just a few pages near the end. Maybe if I was a more religious person myself I would have appreciated this book more, but I could still find a lot to interest me in this story of two medieval women whose different personalities and different journeys through life shape the nature of their relationships with God.
The stories of the two women only converge towards the end of the book in a meeting which did take place according to Margery herself in The Book of Margery Kempe, but maybe not exactly as it is described here. Victoria MacKenzie recreates the events leading up to their encounter and the sort of conversation they may have had, but before reaching that point she explores the backgrounds of both women, with the perspective alternating between Margery and Julian as they follow very different paths through life.
Little is known of the real Julian’s early life, but MacKenzie suggests here that she may have lost her family to an outbreak of plague and that this, along with an illness during which she experienced visions or ‘shewings’ of Christ, influenced her decision to become an anchoress, secluded in a cell for twenty-three years. Margery, in contrast, doesn’t lock herself away, but remains in the secular world, a wife and mother of fourteen. Like Julian, she begins to have religious visions, but while Julian’s faith is personal and private, Margery prays, weeps and preaches in public, drawing attention to herself and leading to accusations of heresy.
This is Victoria MacKenzie’s debut novel and I admire her for writing something so unusual and original, but although I did like it, I couldn’t quite manage to love it. I found the structure and pacing very unbalanced, with the first section, telling the two separate tales in parallel, being by far the longest and the actual meeting at Julian’s cell being dealt with in just a few pages near the end. Maybe if I was a more religious person myself I would have appreciated this book more, but I could still find a lot to interest me in this story of two medieval women whose different personalities and different journeys through life shape the nature of their relationships with God.
April 14, 2025
That was excellent!
November 26, 2022
A delightful read, perfect for so many readers. The stories of two influential medieval mystics are entwined, to create a sweet, touching story. The characters of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, are given authentic voices and brought back to life.
June 25, 2024
Minu kokkupuude keskaegse religiooniga on piirdunud kunstiajaloo, kirikute külastamise ja ühe pühakute eludest rääkiva raamatu lugemisega lisaks piiblilugudele (mu vanaema oli mõnda aega eesti keele õpetaja Pirita kloostri nunnadele ning käisin lapsena seal aeg-ajalt kaasas, nunnad olid väga lahked ja andsid heldelt kommi ning sellest tutvusest sigines kodusesse raamaturiiulisse mõni katoliiklik teos, millest lugesin lapsena pühakute elulugusid sama suure õhinaga kui kõike muud, kus leidus tragöödiat ja üleloomulikkust), nii et ei saa öelda, et oleksin kunagi kuulnud Margery Kempe'st ega Norwichi Julianast, kuid kahtlustan, et ilmselt ei oleks neist kuulnud ka siis, kui isiklik side katoliku kirikuga oleks tugevam. Seejuures "The book of Margery Kempe" olla esimene ingliskeelne autobiograafia üldse! Dame Juliani "Revelations of divine love" aga vanim säilinud inglise keeles kirjutatud teos, mille autoriks on naine. Mõlemad raamatud on tänapäeva välja jõudnud läbi uskumatu vedamise (üks neist leiti juhuslikult kuskilt kapist aastal 1934) ning kujutage pilti, nad ka tõepoolest kohtusid - seda aastal 1413. Nende kahe naise elud on ühte põiminud ja luuleliselt õhulisse vormi valanud Šoti autor Victoria MacKenzie, kelle jaoks see on debüütromaan.
Mulle see sissevaade keskaegsesse ellu ja müstitsismi, aga ennekõike siiski lihtsalt kahe inimese ellu ajas ja ruumis, mida me tänapäeval vaevu ette suudame kujutada, meeldis. (Nägin arvustustes ka ajaloolast, kes kurtis, et ajaloolised detailid ei pea paika. Mind see mõte ei sega, selle raamatu tunne on rohkem nagu loeks luulet ja ma ei oota luulest 100% elutruudust) Tundsin eriti suurt äratundmist sellest, et erakuelu valinud ja oma sünninime maha jätnud Dame Julian igatseb võimalust oma mõtteid täielikult läbi mõelda, ilma, et igapäevaaelu lakkamatud askeldused selles segaks. Aga naisel ei lasta saada rändmungaks ega minna kusagile mäe otsa erakuelu elama, see on ju ohtlik! Nii valib ta üksiklaseelu kiriku küljes kambrikeses kinnimüüritud ukse taga, kuid sealgi ei pääse ei üksinduse painest ega ilmakärast - kui ta saavutab oma vagadusega laiema tuntuse, hakkab rahvas käima lakkamatult talt nõu küsimas.
Minagi unistan sageli, et saaks ometi rahus mõelda... Aga tahaks liigselt näha taevast ja päikest, et kujutaks ette selleks kiviseinte vahele jäämist.
Mulle see sissevaade keskaegsesse ellu ja müstitsismi, aga ennekõike siiski lihtsalt kahe inimese ellu ajas ja ruumis, mida me tänapäeval vaevu ette suudame kujutada, meeldis. (Nägin arvustustes ka ajaloolast, kes kurtis, et ajaloolised detailid ei pea paika. Mind see mõte ei sega, selle raamatu tunne on rohkem nagu loeks luulet ja ma ei oota luulest 100% elutruudust) Tundsin eriti suurt äratundmist sellest, et erakuelu valinud ja oma sünninime maha jätnud Dame Julian igatseb võimalust oma mõtteid täielikult läbi mõelda, ilma, et igapäevaaelu lakkamatud askeldused selles segaks. Aga naisel ei lasta saada rändmungaks ega minna kusagile mäe otsa erakuelu elama, see on ju ohtlik! Nii valib ta üksiklaseelu kiriku küljes kambrikeses kinnimüüritud ukse taga, kuid sealgi ei pääse ei üksinduse painest ega ilmakärast - kui ta saavutab oma vagadusega laiema tuntuse, hakkab rahvas käima lakkamatult talt nõu küsimas.
Minagi unistan sageli, et saaks ometi rahus mõelda... Aga tahaks liigselt näha taevast ja päikest, et kujutaks ette selleks kiviseinte vahele jäämist.
May 13, 2023
Questo è l’anno delle letture noiose!
Incredibile come da Gennaio a oggi io sia riuscita a incappare in tutte letture noiose o poco interessanti. Questo libro non è stato differente dagli altri, eppure ci avevo creduto.
Ci avevo creduto perché è scorrevole, la scrittura di Victoria Mackenzie è fluida senza intoppi e la traduzione perfetta, ma il problema è il contenuto.
Ho letto le prime 50 pagine tutte d’un fiato, mi sono detta:”oh, finalmente sono incappata in un buon romanzo” e niente, non è stato così.”
Partiamo con il presupposto che nonostante non mi piacciano i Pov in questo caso li ho apprezzati. Mettere in parallelo le vicende e i pensieri di Margery e di Julian è stata un’ottima mossa, è stato come rivivere in contemporanea due vite diverse, ma molto simili nelle vicende.
Peccato che per le prime 141 pagine di 170 non succede niente, solo allora le due si incontrato, fino a quel momento riporta in maniera del tutto monotona i loro pensieri. Comprendo il contenuto, ma non si può parlare della stessa cosa per 141 pagine con le stesse parole.
Ho compreso l’importante di riportare due libri medievali scritti da donne, è stato anche interessante scoprire questo fatto, ma non vedo eroismo e coraggio come si vuol lasciare passare, ma solo i contenuti deliranti di due fantastiche medievali, cosa che succedeva moto spesso visto il rapporto con l’uomo e la fede e, visto che il ruolo della donna nella società, spesso non gli rimaneva che aggrapparsi alla fede e alla sottomissione totale verso Cristo. Donne che esercitano o che lasciano esercitare sempre una sorta di sottomissione a danni loro, differentemente da Giovanna D’arco, che seppur visionaria, lei non era certo donna dei suoi tempi.
Incredibile come da Gennaio a oggi io sia riuscita a incappare in tutte letture noiose o poco interessanti. Questo libro non è stato differente dagli altri, eppure ci avevo creduto.
Ci avevo creduto perché è scorrevole, la scrittura di Victoria Mackenzie è fluida senza intoppi e la traduzione perfetta, ma il problema è il contenuto.
Ho letto le prime 50 pagine tutte d’un fiato, mi sono detta:”oh, finalmente sono incappata in un buon romanzo” e niente, non è stato così.”
Partiamo con il presupposto che nonostante non mi piacciano i Pov in questo caso li ho apprezzati. Mettere in parallelo le vicende e i pensieri di Margery e di Julian è stata un’ottima mossa, è stato come rivivere in contemporanea due vite diverse, ma molto simili nelle vicende.
Peccato che per le prime 141 pagine di 170 non succede niente, solo allora le due si incontrato, fino a quel momento riporta in maniera del tutto monotona i loro pensieri. Comprendo il contenuto, ma non si può parlare della stessa cosa per 141 pagine con le stesse parole.
Ho compreso l’importante di riportare due libri medievali scritti da donne, è stato anche interessante scoprire questo fatto, ma non vedo eroismo e coraggio come si vuol lasciare passare, ma solo i contenuti deliranti di due fantastiche medievali, cosa che succedeva moto spesso visto il rapporto con l’uomo e la fede e, visto che il ruolo della donna nella società, spesso non gli rimaneva che aggrapparsi alla fede e alla sottomissione totale verso Cristo. Donne che esercitano o che lasciano esercitare sempre una sorta di sottomissione a danni loro, differentemente da Giovanna D’arco, che seppur visionaria, lei non era certo donna dei suoi tempi.
September 22, 2024
I don’t know how or when I came across this little piece of wonder, but I am glad I did, and in effect got to read this marvellous novella about two women in the fifteenth century – both who see visions of Jesus, of God, battling with their demons of being women at that time and age, and more than anything else, of trying how to love, not feel guilty for their desire, for trying to be outspoken about what they see, and how they feel.
Prior to reading this book, I hadn’t heard of Julian of Norwich, who I got to know then was an anchoress of the Middle Ages, and then of Margery Kempe, who should’ve been canonised a Catholic saint but wasn’t.
Victoria Mackenzie presents the lives of these two women – separated by class, time, and place, and how it all culminates into a meeting between the two, and what is shared as a result. This book for a second made me think it was preachy, but it is so far from it. It is about the choices we make, and how sometimes we need faith to stick by them – either we find that within ourselves or from a force we call God.
Mackenzie’s writing is swift, engaging, and very well-researched. She brings the place and time alive – you can almost smell the streets, hear the voices of the people, and sense the superstitions and gender discrimination – Mackenzie writes so simply and the way it finds a way to your heart and makes it skip a beat.
The title of the book is what made me pick it up – it is so arresting, a plea, a cry, and yet something that tells you of resistance, of not caving in, and of standing tall, no matter what it takes. A great read. Please pick it up. It might take some time to get into, but it is worth it.
Prior to reading this book, I hadn’t heard of Julian of Norwich, who I got to know then was an anchoress of the Middle Ages, and then of Margery Kempe, who should’ve been canonised a Catholic saint but wasn’t.
Victoria Mackenzie presents the lives of these two women – separated by class, time, and place, and how it all culminates into a meeting between the two, and what is shared as a result. This book for a second made me think it was preachy, but it is so far from it. It is about the choices we make, and how sometimes we need faith to stick by them – either we find that within ourselves or from a force we call God.
Mackenzie’s writing is swift, engaging, and very well-researched. She brings the place and time alive – you can almost smell the streets, hear the voices of the people, and sense the superstitions and gender discrimination – Mackenzie writes so simply and the way it finds a way to your heart and makes it skip a beat.
The title of the book is what made me pick it up – it is so arresting, a plea, a cry, and yet something that tells you of resistance, of not caving in, and of standing tall, no matter what it takes. A great read. Please pick it up. It might take some time to get into, but it is worth it.
July 26, 2023
An interesting look at the lives and faith of two medieval women, neither of which I had heard of before. It was cool to see their stories draw out in parallel until they finally meet at the end, and how different their lives were but connected by their visions and their faith.
I think people who already know a lot about these women may find this more of an introduction than anything, but I also do think it did a good job of getting the story across to someone who didn't already have established knowledge. I think this would also appeal to people with an interest in religion and Christianity in particular - a lot of the book is exploring how Julian and Margery express their faith and have a close relationship with Jesus/God.
Overall not something that I think will stick with me, but glad I got to learn about these women and their significant writings.
I think people who already know a lot about these women may find this more of an introduction than anything, but I also do think it did a good job of getting the story across to someone who didn't already have established knowledge. I think this would also appeal to people with an interest in religion and Christianity in particular - a lot of the book is exploring how Julian and Margery express their faith and have a close relationship with Jesus/God.
Overall not something that I think will stick with me, but glad I got to learn about these women and their significant writings.
February 5, 2023
This thoughtful and unfussy novella about two extraordinary medieval women captured my imagination.
February 25, 2023
“I took a deep breath and thought how I could best give love to this woman.”
July 1, 2024
Small and mighty, this book is very short, but is one of the most powerful pieces of fiction I have ever read.
I knew a little bit about both medieval women going in, having a partner who extensively studied the Lollards and their contemporaries, but I was utterly unprepared for how real they would feel to me by the end.
I now feel I should read Julian of Norwich's original text, as her theology of God in nature and emphasis on God's motherly aspect is intriguing and appeals to me.
Although this is a book about religious figures, and is made more precious to me through my faith, it's also a heart-rending portrayal of women's place in the world such as it was when these two remarkable people were alive.
Definitely one of the rare books on my reread list !
I knew a little bit about both medieval women going in, having a partner who extensively studied the Lollards and their contemporaries, but I was utterly unprepared for how real they would feel to me by the end.
I now feel I should read Julian of Norwich's original text, as her theology of God in nature and emphasis on God's motherly aspect is intriguing and appeals to me.
Although this is a book about religious figures, and is made more precious to me through my faith, it's also a heart-rending portrayal of women's place in the world such as it was when these two remarkable people were alive.
Definitely one of the rare books on my reread list !
November 21, 2024
An excellent little book whether as an introduction to Julian and Margery or to meet again with old friends.
I was glad that in the end, the author didn't take the easy and time honoured option of mocking and dismissing Margery. Having just read her book, I can say Margery seems wonderfully lacking in self awareness but her sheer energy and unstoppability evokes admiration and means she is never boring even when telling you her dreams at length. I appreciated how all those qualities were brought out in the fiction.
Julian is treated with more delicacy and tenderness as befitting a true mystic, though also seen to be broken and struggling.
I very much approve that this short fiction just gave space for two fifteenth century women just to speak and be.
I was glad that in the end, the author didn't take the easy and time honoured option of mocking and dismissing Margery. Having just read her book, I can say Margery seems wonderfully lacking in self awareness but her sheer energy and unstoppability evokes admiration and means she is never boring even when telling you her dreams at length. I appreciated how all those qualities were brought out in the fiction.
Julian is treated with more delicacy and tenderness as befitting a true mystic, though also seen to be broken and struggling.
I very much approve that this short fiction just gave space for two fifteenth century women just to speak and be.
January 3, 2026
I've found I have a special connection to this book. But despite my interest in medieval history, women writers and the idea of faith, it is a beautiful book, hopeful and mournful at the same time. I'm really glad I got to read it. I will most definitely be reading the Divine Revelations of Love.
July 21, 2024
Wonderful little book about, ultimately, the staying power of words. Two very different ways of experiencing life and spirituality are here contrasted in a way that reveals their common ground: this is the story of the meeting of two women who are lost in the medieval mire while holding on to their convictions like rafts in a storm. There's a patient rhythm at the heart of this text and it resonates beyond the confines of the act of reading. Julian's story, I found, had the most beauty to reveal.
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July 26, 2023“Volevo prolungare ogni momento della mia vita per riuscire a sentire il tempo come lo sente Dio: non l’istante che si dissolve all’improvviso, ma qualcosa di più vasto e inclusivo. Un’immobilità che non passa nel momento esatto in cui ti pensi al suo interno.” <3
March 31, 2024
2.5/5
This is very well written but I found it very preachy and not entirely what I expected it to be or what I felt I was marketed as.
This is very well written but I found it very preachy and not entirely what I expected it to be or what I felt I was marketed as.
January 3, 2025
In 1 keer uitgelezen (150 pagina’s dus zo knap is dat niet hoor)! Maarrrr het was zo prachtig en zo mijn ding. Het vermengt eigenlijk de levens van middeleeuwse mystici Margery Kempe en Julian of Norwich. Een soort poëtische hervertelling annex samenvatting + een fictieve dialoog. Hyperreligieus en I love it
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