The motherless child of an English priest living in ninth-century Mainz, Agnes is a wild and brilliant girl with a deep, visceral love of God. At eighteen, to avoid a future as a wife or nun, Agnes enlists the help of a lovesick Benedictine monk to disguise herself as a man and secure a place at the revered Fulda monastery. So begins the life of John the Englishman: a matchless scholar and scribe of Fulda, then a charismatic heretic in an Athens commune and, by her middle years, a celebrated teacher in Rome. There, Agnes (as John) dazzles the Church hierarchy with her knowledge of the old and new languages of Europe, theology and Church law - and finds herself at the heart of political intrigue in a city where gossip is a powerful (and deadly) currency. And when the only person who knows her identity arrives in Rome, she will risk everything to once again feel what it is to be known - and loved.

Vorwort

The reimagined story of Pope Joan, a woman who went from being a young girl in Germany to becoming the first (and only) female pope.
A historical novel about patriarchy, ambition and faith for fans of Maggie O'Farrell's The Marriage Portrait, Lauren Groff's Matrix and Hilary Mantel.

Autorentext
Emily Maguire is the author of seven novels **and three non-fiction books. Her 2016 novel, An Isolated Incident, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and the Miles Franklin Literary Award. She was twice named as a Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year, was the 2018/2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney and the 2023 H. C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. Emily has an MA in literature and works as a mentor to young and emerging writers.

Klappentext

'A spectacular story of shape-shifting, love and faith . . . It enthralled me'
JESSIE BURTON, multi-million bestselling author of The Miniaturist

'Astonishing . . . a scorching vision of a book'
CHARLOTTE WOOD, Booker-shortlisted author of Stone Yard Devotional

'Incredible'
EVIE WYLD, author of The Echoes

'Bold and unexpected, Rapture buzzes with life and energy . . . Extraordinary'
ROSANNA PIKE, instant Sunday Times bestselling author of A Little Trickerie

**The legend is only the beginning . . .**
Ninth-century Mainz, in the heart of the Holy Roman Empire. Agnes is the motherless child of an English priest - a wild and brilliant girl with a deep, visceral love of God. But when tragedy strikes, she is suddenly forced to choose between what is expected of her and the life she has always dreamed of. Determined to find her own freedom, she disguises herself as a man, securing a place at the revered Fulda monastery and forever altering the course of her existence.

Thus begins the life of John the Englishman: a matchless scholar and scribe of Fulda, then a charismatic heretic in an Athens commune and, by her middle years, a celebrated teacher in Rome. There, she dazzles the Church hierarchy with her knowledge of the old and new languages of Europe, theology and Church law, and finds herself at the heart of political intrigue in a city where gossip is a powerful - and deadly - currency.

And when the only person who knows her identity arrives in Rome, she will risk everything to once again feel what it is to be known - and loved.