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"Brilliantly revealing history of medieval women . . . Howes’s debut has just the right meld of insightful research, enjoyable storytelling and contemporary contexts."—The Guardian

"A history of medieval women’s lives as told through the prism of four exceptional individuals. . . .  throughout, the tensions of medieval womanhood strain and stretch—eroticism and purity, sexuality and motherhood, silence and speech."—The New York Times

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife charts the lives and times of four medieval women writers—Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a no-good wife—who all bucked convention and forged their own paths. Largely forgotten by modern readers, these women have an astonishing amount to teach us about love, marriage, motherhood, friendship, and earning a living.
 
Reading the words of these four writers, Hetta Howes engagingly reveals how everyday women lived, survived, and thrived in medieval times. Who did they marry and why? Did they ever have extramarital affairs? Could they earn money and become self-sufficient? Could they be leaders? What did they think about death—and what about life and their place in it? Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife paints a vibrant portrait of these women, their world, and the ways they speak to us today.

Hetta Howes is Senior Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at City University of London. Named as a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker, she regularly contributes to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and writes for publications such as the Times Literary Supplement and BBC History Extra.

"This is a fascinating book about four medieval women—each a heroine in her own way—and it tells us so much about their world, and about our own. A welcome addition to medieval history, giving us a window into the lives of women that many people know only by name, if at all. What jumps off the page is the liveliness of the women, their passion, their courage, and their own ways of being women."—Philippa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl and Normal Women

"A spirited, sparky, and brisk account. With verve and brio, Howes takes the reader into medieval society via some of its most eloquent women, making them approachable and relevant to the world today."—Anthony Bale, author of A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages: The World through Medieval Eyes

"Hetta Howes unflinchingly explores the trials medieval women faced and, importantly, how they fought back."—Tabitha Stanmore, author of Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic

"With expert knowledge and manifest enthusiasm, Howes uses four very different women as jumping-off points from which to discuss medieval women’s lifespans and experiences, from marriage and love to work and friendship, power, achievement, and death. Engaging, authoritative, and original."—Carolyne Larrington, Emerita Professor in Medieval European Literature, University of Oxford

"Weaving together detail from a huge range of European narratives and documentary sources, Hetta Howes brilliantly illuminates the lives of four medieval women whose experiences prompted writings of different kinds. Her imaginative engagement with these women's worlds, with their circumstances and predicaments, makes for a spirited commentary on the continuities and fractures in women's history."—Julia Boffey, Professor Emerita of Medieval Studies, Queen Mary University of London

"This meticulously researched book makes visible so much that popular models of medieval life have found inconvenient or uninteresting to accommodate: female friendship, lesbianism, pregnancy support, and above all the endless negotiations, compromises, and sleights-of-hand which women must constantly enact to survive, then as now."—Noreen Masud, author of A Flat Place: Moving through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma

"Beautifully written and brilliantly observed. Hetta Howes unlocks the secrets of women’s lives, so often silent and inconspicuous in our histories, and shows us the medieval world as we’ve never seen it before. Full of surprises and packed with thrilling details, this is an important, eye-opening book."—Alice Loxton, author of Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives and Uproar!

"What do women want? This brilliant, beautifully written study of four medieval writers draws a composite portrait of women who set their own goals, lived their own unorthodox lives, in defiance of the misogynist norms of the age. A fascinating, inspirational read."—Barbara Taylor, Professor Emerita, Queen Mary University of London