BOOK REVIEW: Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards is a newly-released historical novel set in Bruges in the late 13th century. If you like medieval history with a healthy dose of religion, mysticism, and female solidarity, this beautifully written novel is for you. It will transport you back in time.

The novel begins with Aleys as a 13-year-old girl entranced by a psalter which her mother uses to tell Bible stories. From a young age, Aleys burns with religious fervor. When her father arranges a marriage for her that would be beneficial to the family, Aleys flees to the Franciscan friars. Lukas, the head of the friars in Bruges, sees in her deep devotion something that he yearns for himself. Of course, he can’t allow her to stay within his brotherhood, but believes that in time, she will recruit enough women to the Franciscans that they can have a religious house of their own, affiliated with his men. In the meantime, he takes her to the Beguines, an autonomous group of religious women who do not take vows and who are not nuns, yet live lives of pious simplicity. Although Aleys resists at first, she does find safety and purpose with the Beguines.

But it isn’t enough. Aleys is always struggling to grow closer to God. She uses the language of bride and groom, an ecstatic form of love. This leads her to visions, and eventually, possibly, to performing healing miracles.

However, Bruges is in an unsettled state. Its bishop, who happens to be Friar Lukas’ older brother, is an ambitious man who is in the Church for his own gain. He no longer believes in God, at least not a God who actually cares for the people he created. This man, Jann, is a political creature, whose most prominent attribute is his hypocrisy. His only redeeming feature is that he does love his younger brother, even if he’s constantly annoyed by him.

Aleys’s search for God, her desperate seeking, leads her eventually (as is shown in the prologue, so not a spoiler) to martyrdom. It’s that tension that drives the plot.

The novel shows medieval Bruges in all its mercantile splendor. And it shows Aleys’s visions in otherworldly detail. The characters are well-drawn and deeply introspective. The pace is slow in parts, as there is a lot to absorb, and Jann’s cynical scheming gets a bit tiresome, but overall, it’s an interesting tale of a young woman seeking communion with God.