Canticle

A Novel

By: Janet Rich Edwards

Narrated by: Lucy Rayner

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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.

©2025 Janet Rich Edwards (P)2025 Spiegel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks

Dark, but amazing

This is a complex historical novel at the surface, but it has many layers. Not a beach read; it will have you thinking about it for while afterwards. I think women will particularly appreciate it.

A time and place I knew little about

This beautifully crafted book had me entranced from the outset. It brought to life characters that I found myself truly caring for. I kept looking up things i wanted to know more about. I was sorry when it ended.

Great story

I thought this was a very interesting story and I thought that the narrator did an amazing job.

Wonderful

This novel is extraordinary, smart and beautiful. I am no believer, but the ecstasy of the main character is beautiful.

Deep and weighty

This book delivered exactly what I want when I pick up historical fiction: an old world that speaks to now, characters I care about, a problem that needs solving in such a way that I can’t look away until the end. Canticle is an imagining of a mystic in Bruges, with a view of the Beguine community (whom I knew nothing about!). Multi-voiced but with a clear heroine, I really loved the world, the characters, and the trouble. Beautifully written and narrated, this book did not disappoint. Well done!