Mailbox Monday #128

A quiet couple of weeks in my mailbox however I did receive 2 books this week.

I received a copy of the brand new printing of The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell from the publisher for participating in the promotion of the new version of the book.  I really love this cover much more than the older version that I currently have.  Be on the look out over the next couple months for a giveaway of my gently used copy.

Then, for review, I received a copy of Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen by Mary Sharratt from the publisher.  I’ve been interested in this novel because it is such an original subject that I don’t know anything about.  Here is the book blurb:

“Illuminations chronicles the life of Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), who was tithed to the church at the age of eight and expected to live out her days in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned but disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim. Instead, Hildegard rejected Jutta’s masochistic piety and found comfort and grace in studying books, growing herbs, and rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died some three decades later, Hildegard broke out of her prison with the heavenly calling to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters and herself from the soul-destroying anchorage.

Like Anita Diamant’s portrayal of Dinah in The Red Tent, Mary Sharratt interweaves historical research with psychological insight and vivid imagination to write an engaging and triumphant portrait of a courageous and remarkably resilient woman and the life she might have lived. Deeply affecting, Illuminations is a testament to the power of faith, love, and self-creation.”

That’s it for me, what about you?

Mailbox Monday is on a monthly blog tour and for the month of December it is being hosted by Suko’s Notebook.

 

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court