Some girls want out
Hilary Mantel: Spectacular saintliness, 4 March 2004
The Voices of Gemma Galgani: The Life and Afterlife of a Modern Saint
by Rudolph Bell and Cristina Mazzoni.
Chicago, 320 pp., £21, March 2003,0 226 04196 4 Show More
by Rudolph Bell and Cristina Mazzoni.
Chicago, 320 pp., £21, March 2003,
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
by Kathryn Harrison.
Weidenfeld, 160 pp., £14.99, November 2003,0 297 84728 7 Show More
by Kathryn Harrison.
Weidenfeld, 160 pp., £14.99, November 2003,
The Disease of Virgins: Green Sickness, Chlorosis and the Problems of Puberty
by Helen King.
Routledge, 196 pp., £50, September 2003,0 415 22662 7 Show More
by Helen King.
Routledge, 196 pp., £50, September 2003,
A Wonderful Little Girl: The True Story of Sarah Jacob, the Welsh Fasting Girl
by Siân Busby.
Short Books, 157 pp., £5.99, June 2004,1 904095 70 4 Show More
by Siân Busby.
Short Books, 157 pp., £5.99, June 2004,
“... to know remains hidden; and so much we need to know is hidden in the footnotes of Rudolph Bell and Cristina Mazzoni’s book. There is a certain scattiness, as well as scruple, in the authors’ methods, and you wish that, for part of the book at least, they would adopt Harrison’s straightforward and conventional narrative manner. Harrison recognises ... ”
