Rating: 
Summary: Deeper than I expected; a Medieval feminist tale.
Review: I picked up this book hoping for a tale of a powerful and wily woman ruling the Medieval Christian church...I got something different than I expected, but enjoyed it nonetheless. The book focuses on the early life of the woman who would one day be Pope Joan, rather than exploring her (possible) reign as Pope. It is the story of her many struggles as a woman in Medieval England.Joan is the exceptionally bright daughter of an English priest and his Saxon wife. From an early age, Joan desires little more than to gain a formal education, and to be treated as equal to her brothers. She stubbornly refuses to accept her place as a subservient woman, instead coaxing her eldest brother into teaching her to read and write. Eventually, she overcomes numerous obstacles, chief among these being her overbearing and abusive father, to learn languages and philosophy, and later medicine. Joan's story is one of survival. She survives her father's wrath and beatings, then later a brutal Norse raid of her village, and still later the black plague. Her life is full of conflicting emotions and desires, and she is forced to live a man's life in order to continue her work. But Joan is still a woman, and she falls in love. This, ultimately, is both her triumph and her downfall. Well written, intricately woven, and wholly believable, with a good mixture of action and emotion. This book will probably appeal to women, and perhaps some men more "in touch with their feminine side."
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