Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard Von Bingen (36 page)

The quoted letters are my abridged and paraphrased versions of the authentic letters in Joseph L. Baird’s
The Personal Correspondence of Hildegard of Bingen,
and the lyrics of her quoted songs are my own paraphrased versions of those from the liner notes of the following CDs, which I listened to continually while writing this novel.

11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula,
Anonymous 4, Harmonia Mundi, USA.

The Dendermonde Codex,
Dous Mal/Katelijne Van Laethem, Etcetera.

A Feather on the Breath of God,
Gothic Voices, Hyperion.

Canticles of Ecstasy,
Sequentia, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.

Voice of the Blood,
Sequentia, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.

Hildegard’s observations on wildlife, herbal medicine, and gemstone healing are gleaned from
Hildegard von Bingen’s
Physica: The Complete English Translation of Her Classic Work on Health and Healing,
translated from the Latin by Priscilla Throop and published by Healing Arts Press. In contemporary Germany, there are still naturopathic doctors who work with Hildegard’s medicine and dietary philosophy.

I wish to dedicate ecstatic canticles of praise to my editor, Adrienne Brodeur; my agent, Wendy Sherman; my copy editor, David Hough; and to the entire team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I received much support from my husband, Jos Van Loo, who read this book in manuscript, and from my writers group: Cath Staincliffe, Pat Hadler, Trudy Hodge, and Kath Pilsbury. The Historical Novel Society and its wonderfully nurturing community of writers and readers is a continuing source of inspiration. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to Karleen Koen, Sharon Kay Penman, Margaret George, Stephanie Cowell, CW Gortner, and Margaret Frazer for their early endorsement and support. My mother, Adelene Sharratt, shared her notes on a course on women mystics taught by Gabriel Ross.

M
ARY
S
HARRATT
is an American writer who has lived in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, for the past seven years. The author of the critically acclaimed novels
Summit Avenue,
The Real Minerva,
and
The Vanishing Point,
Sharratt is also the coeditor of the subversive fiction anthology
Bitch Lit,
a celebration of female antiheroes, strong women who break all the rules.

1. Title Page
   
2. Table of Contents
   
3. Copyright
   
4. Dedication
   
5. Epigraph
   
6. Hours of the Divine Office
   
7. Prologue: Apostate
   
8. PART I
   
9. 1
   
10. 2
    
11. 3
    
12. 4
    
13. 5
    
14. 6
    
15. 7
    
16. 8
    
17. PART II
    
18. 9
    
19. 10
    
20. 11
    
21. 12
    
22. PART III
    
23. 13
    
24. 14
    
25. 15
    
26. Epilogue
    
27. Rupertsberg, 1179
    
28. Afterword
    
29. About the Author