Canticle - by Janet Rich Edwards (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Atmospheric and unforgettable."-People, "Best Books of December 2025"

"Some readers will catch echoes of Lauren Groff's 2021 novel, Matrix, about the 12th-century poet Marie de France, but Edwards's fidelity to the Christ-saturated imagination of the period is bolder. . . . Canticle is itself something of a daring act of translation. Edwards manages to produce a modern narrative that remains leashed to ancient experience and the evolving religious practices of the era-some shockingly peculiar. By preserving the ideals and even the phrases of actual medieval mystics, she keeps her story from turning into a costume drama pleasingly decorated with New Age gobbledygook. The Aleys we follow into the flames remains fanatical and weird and devoted in a way that passeth all understanding and yet feels purified by love."-The Washington Post

"Canticle is an auspicious debut--and hopefully not the last novel we'll read from Rich Edwards. . . . [It's] a mystical story that immerses us in an earlier century, in the vein of Lauren Groff's Matrix or Sue Monk Kidd's The Book of Longings. If you loved either of them, as I did, you might have a hard time putting down Canticle."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"While Janet Rich Edwards' lushly written debut skewers ecclesiastical hypocrisy, it gives genuine faith its due. It also celebrates a formidable sisterhood whose thankless bravery and quiet practice of kindness reminds us all of what is truly holy."--Amazon.com, "Best Books of December 2025"

"Inspired by the actual stories of medieval mystics, this page-turning novel celebrates women finding courage, autonomy, and joy in a society that seeks to suppress their independence."--Real Simple, "Top Picks for Book Club & Beyond"

"Luminous, mesmerizing . . . Told from the vantage point of women, Canticle is a glorious historical novel that evokes the fervor and flavor of medieval Christian culture."--Foreword Reviews (starred)

"In Canticle, Janet Rich Edwards brings the medieval world brilliantly to life, exploring the dreams and desires of a community of women whose fascinating stories sing from every page. The novel is a suspenseful page-turner that is also rigorously researched and utterly convincing--a true gem of historical fiction."--Bruce Holsinger, author of Culpability

"Janet Rich Edwards has written a brave, intense novel about the mystical nature of a young woman's faith and how easily it can find itself in opposition to politics and entrenched power."--Sarah Dunant, New York Times bestselling author of The Birth of Venus

"Compelling, lyrical, and fresh, Canticle is a conjuring--of time, place, society, struggle. A tale of immense beauty, kinship, and how vision can be gift and curse in a world where the belief of a few can stifle the truth of the many, Aleys's story is a miraculous work of historical fiction."--Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

"An enthralling debut and a page-turning story set in medieval Belgium, filled with faith and family and passion, and one girl's drive toward the divine."--Tatjana Soli, New York Times bestselling author of The Lotus Eaters

"An inspired tale of a devout and defiant young woman in medieval Bruges . . . Drawing on stories and biographies of medieval saints, Rich Edwards faithfully highlights the lives of 13th-century religious women and the sacrifices they were forced to make. Readers of Lauren

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