Create a free Bookclubs account to organize your book club, get reading recommendations, view hundreds of discussion guides, and more!
I, Julian
'So I will write in English, pressing new words from this beautiful plain language spoken by all. Not courtly French to introduce God politely. Not church Latin to construct arguments. English to show it as it is. Even though it is not safe to do so.'
From the author of Miles to Go before I Sleep comes I, Julian, the account of a medieval woman who dares to tell her own story, battling grief, plague, the church and societal expectations to do so. Compelled by the powerful visions she had when close to death, Julian finds a way to live a life of freedom - as an anchoress, bricked up in a small room on the side of a church - and to write of what she has seen. The result, passed from hand to hand, is the first book to be written by a woman in English.
Tender, luminous, meditative and powerful, Julian writes of her love for God, and God's love for the whole of creation. 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.'
'Written with profound insight, spiritual and psychological, and a rare sensitivity to the everyday world of the fourteenth century, I, Julian is a brilliantly illuminating companion to one of the greatest works of spiritual writing in English.' Rowan Williams, Magdalene College, Cambridge University
This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Hodder Faith, an imprint of John Murray Press.
Book club questions for I, Julian by Claire Gilbert
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
Why do you think the author chose to write Julian’s story as a fictional autobiography?
At several points in the story we hear resonances of our twenty-first century world: the deadly pestilence invokes the recent pandemic; accusations of heresy remind us of contemporary polarised politics. What moments in the book made you resonate with Julian and her medieval world?
What role does Thomas Emund play in the book?
What was your response to Julian’s visions?
What were Julian’s reasons for going into the anchorhold? Did you consider it a fearful retreat or a spiritual triumph?
How do the women in Julian’s later life bring healing to the traumas of her earlier years?
How would you describe Julian’s spirituality?
Why is Julian insistent on loving Holy Church and radical love? Why didn’t she dismiss the Church and become a Lollard, as some scholars believe?
Has this book encouraged you to read more medieval historical fiction? If so, why?
I, Julian Book Club Questions PDF
Click here for a printable PDF of the I, Julian discussion questions