Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen [Hardcover]

Illuminations is a novel based on one of the most fascinating of early Christian women, Hildegard von Bingen. Sent by her family at the age of 8 to live with the anchorite, Jutta Von Sponheim in a walled up room attached to a church, she grows up watching the extreme fanaticism of Jutta and experiences her own moving, sometimes confounding visions. She lived in a world where demons lurked around every corner and where visions such as she experienced were considered suspect. Were they visions from God, or from Satan himself? These questions haunted her as she grew up, yet upon the death of Jutta, she began to write of her visions, which helped her to find her place and purpose and she became one of the most well-known women of her time. This book uses her writings and some creative license to bring to life this most intriguing woman.

Mary Sharratt is a brilliant writer, meticulous researcher and historian. I have read several of her books already and truly had no doubt that this would also be worthy of recommendation and a 5 star review. Her characters are well developed, the story flows well and it becomes part of you and you just can't put it down. If you are looking for high quality historical fiction, then read Illuminations and also check out Mary's other books. She really knows how to bring a story to life and to keep you reading until the book is fully devoured!

Few of us today understand the lives of anchorites, individuals who for religious reasons chose to live in a sealed room, with only a hatch providing contact with the world at large. In Illuminations, Mary Sharratt presents a fictionalized biography of one of the most famous anchorites of all time, Hildegard von Bingen. As a child growing up in early medieval Germany, Hildegard experienced frequent visions, a dangerous trait in the eyes of church and society. As a result, her mother "tithed" her to the church as companion to Jutta von Sponheim, a girl from a noble family who chose to become not merely a nun, but an anchorite.

Sharratt chronicles the stages of Hildegard's life, from those miserable early years of forced confinement, to her fight for the opportunity to live as a normal nun, to her founding of her own religious community. In the process, her visions continued and grew in intensity, to the point that they dictated her choices and created her reputation as a genuine and revered mystic. Sharratt's prose, at times luminous and at times decidedly down to earth. She has managed to convey a sharp sense of Hildegard's personality and spirit, relying upon primary sources, especially the brilliantly illuminated manuscript in which she recorded her visions. Her Hildegard is humble, yet not afraid to employ flamboyance to achieve her goals. She did not hestitate to criticize hypocrisy and abuses of the church to which her life was bound, which caused her enormous difficulty. But she remained unbowed, and in her more peaceful, contemplative periods, she composed exquisite music to accompany the divine office.

Today, Hildegard is often regarded as a proto-feminist, but as portrayed in this book, she is more a proponent of self-actualization and justice. She is also called St. Hildegard, but her canonization has not yet taken place; that will occur October 7, 2012. I'm not certain exactly what she did to earn that title (it has been speculated that her visions were manifestations of migraine aura), but her life was extraordinary and her story deserves to be told as eloquently as Sharratt has done.

Ignorant as I am of history, I had never heard of Hildegard Von Bingen before I read this book. I'm grateful for the introduction.

All the facets of her strong personality come out in the narrative: her far-out mystical approach to theology (her God was a feminine emanation of love), her facility as a writer (her books were fueled by visions), her knowledge of herbal healing (she compiled a medicinal text), her great talent as a composer (I later listened to some of her wonderful music on YouTube), her power as a preacher (she made historically famous denunciations of abuses in the church) and her leadership skills and chutzpah (with no money of her own, she founded abbeys of great importance).

Hildegard's life, in the hands of this author, is quite an adventure story. From the age of eight she was immured in a monastery as the handmaiden of a female acolyte who practiced terrible austerities. This was pure torture for the freedom-loving girl who loved the forest. Her experiences being bricked in with a fanatic, and her determination to break free, make riveting reading.

The author shows us not just Hildegard's admirable qualities, but also her failings. Love tended to lead Hildegard astray, as well as being at the heart of her mystical fervor.

I'm don't read a lot of history-based fiction, but I'm awfully glad I read Illuminations.