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,
“... a habit, crept downstairs and ate all the pies. Starvation can be, must be, sustained by pride. Siân Busby’s book ‘A Wonderful Little Girl’ introduces us to this pride in a secular context. In 1869, a 12-year-old called Sarah Jacob starved to death in a Welsh farmhouse, under the eye of doctors and nurses who were watching her around the ... ”
