A01=Janet Rich Edwards
anchoress
anchorite
Author_Janet Rich Edwards
Beguines
Belgium
book clubs
Bruges
Category=FB
Category=FV
Category=FW
Catholic Church
Christianity
coming of age
convents
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eq_fiction
eq_historical-fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_philosophy-religion
faith
Franciscans
girlhood
Hildegard of Bingen
historical fiction
Julian of Norwich
Latin
literacy
literary fiction
love story
Marguerite Porete
martyrs
medieval women
Middle Ages
miracles
mystics
nuns
reading
religion
saints
weaving
wool
Product details
- ISBN 9781966302056
- Dimensions: 152 x 228mm
- Publication Date: 15 Jan 2026
- Publisher: Spiegel & Grau LLC
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER * LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION * NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE * REAL SIMPLE BEST BOOKS OF 2025 * SPOTIFY BEST DEBUTS OF 2025 * GOODREADS READERS’ MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF FALL
“Atmospheric and unforgettable.”—People
A masterful debut novel following a spirited young woman’s explorations of faith, agency, and love in thirteenth-century Bruges.
Aleys is sixteen years old and unusual: stubborn, bright, and prone to religious visions. She and her only friend, Finn, a young scholar, have been learning Latin together in secret—but just as she thinks their connection might become something more, everything unravels. When her father promises her in marriage to a merchant she doesn’t love, she runs away from home, finding shelter among the beguines, a fiercely independent community of religious women who refuse to answer to the Church.
Among these hardworking and strong-willed women, Aleys glimpses for the first time the joys of belonging: a life of song, meaning, and friendship in the markets and along the canals of Bruges. But forces both mystical and political are at work. Illegal translations of scripture, the women’s independence, and a sudden rash of miracles all draw the attention of an ambitious bishop—and bring Aleys and those around her into ever-increasing danger, a danger that will push Aleys to a new understanding of love and sacrifice.
Grounded in the little-told stories of medieval women—mystics, saints, anchoresses, and beguines—and introducing a major new talent, Canticle is a luminous work of historical fiction, vividly evoking a world on the verge of transformation.
“Atmospheric and unforgettable.”—People
A masterful debut novel following a spirited young woman’s explorations of faith, agency, and love in thirteenth-century Bruges.
Aleys is sixteen years old and unusual: stubborn, bright, and prone to religious visions. She and her only friend, Finn, a young scholar, have been learning Latin together in secret—but just as she thinks their connection might become something more, everything unravels. When her father promises her in marriage to a merchant she doesn’t love, she runs away from home, finding shelter among the beguines, a fiercely independent community of religious women who refuse to answer to the Church.
Among these hardworking and strong-willed women, Aleys glimpses for the first time the joys of belonging: a life of song, meaning, and friendship in the markets and along the canals of Bruges. But forces both mystical and political are at work. Illegal translations of scripture, the women’s independence, and a sudden rash of miracles all draw the attention of an ambitious bishop—and bring Aleys and those around her into ever-increasing danger, a danger that will push Aleys to a new understanding of love and sacrifice.
Grounded in the little-told stories of medieval women—mystics, saints, anchoresses, and beguines—and introducing a major new talent, Canticle is a luminous work of historical fiction, vividly evoking a world on the verge of transformation.
Janet Rich Edwards is a professor of epidemiology at Harvard University and works in the Division of Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. A graduate of GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator program, she lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
