Heloise is a determined young woman with an exceptional mind, longing to pursue learning rather than marriage or life as a cloistered nun. When two such brilliant minds meet and engage, sparks are likely to ignite. But theirs is an impossible love. This is a time when the Gregorian Reforms are starting to bite and celibacy among the clergy and church officials is being rigorously imposed.
It shines a light on a changing world whose attitudes and politics are not so very different from our own. For some answers to frequently asked questions look here.
So how did a NZ writer come to write such a book? Most vitally, I garnered a real sense for the size of the country: how far everything is apart, and how long it must have taken to travel from one place to the other in the 12 th century.
While in France, as well as lapping up this huge wealth of sensory and built information, I also had to battle questions about my legitimacy for the telling this story.
It has been known in Europe since the 15 th C and many people I met had studied the letters at school or university. It was extremely challenging and I had to do a lot of soul searching. This story has haunted me for so long I felt compelled to write it β and I believe that what I give it is an intelligent eye, an understanding of what makes a story work through the writing of nine novels including several award winners , and my own emotional intelligence.
