A review by nicktomjoe
Julian of Norwich: A Very Brief History by Janina Ramírez

4.0

I enjoyed this book. Janina Ramirez was faced with a difficult task here: trying to writ an accessible introduction to a deceptively simple text written in a complex time. On the whole she does it well: her prose does not stumble, her enthusiasm for a great thinker is infectious. At the same time, she does rather gloss over the difficulties of Julian, and how her writing needs to be viewed in context. The result is a largely speculative final chapter which could have done more than it does.
Nevertheless, I wish I had had this book with me on my early readings of the Revelations of Divine Love. It is itself a revelation of the thought and times of a great religious writer.