Donna Cross

A Novel

Pope Joan

Donna Woolfolk Cross

“Pope Joan has all the elements one wants in a historical drama—love, sex, violence, duplicity, and long-buried secrets. Cross has written an engaging book.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review In this international bestseller and basis for the 2009 movie of the same name, Donna Woolfolk Cross brings the Dark Ages to life in all their brutal splendor and shares the dramatic story of a woman whose strength of vision led her to defy the social restrictions of her day. For a thousand years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die—Pope Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in this riveting novel, Cross paints a sweeping portrait of an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept. Brilliant and talented, young Joan rebels against medieval social strictures forbidding women to learn. When her brother is brutally killed during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak—and his identity—and enters the monastery of Fulda. As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great scholar and healer. Eventually, she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over appalling odds, she finally attains the highest office in Christendom—wielding a power greater than any woman before or since. But such power always comes at a price . . . “Brings the savage ninth century vividly to life in all its alien richness. An enthralling, scholarly historical novel.”—Rebecca Fraser, author of The Brontës

Laura Mauler

Blah blah god stuff blah blah girls are people too!!! blah blah baddies are bad blah blah blah

Arianna M

It wasn't perfect but it was highly enjoyable, although the pacing was off at times; in the end, I cared for the main characters so much that I forgave Woolfolk Cross how perfect in everything she'd made Joan sound in the beginning. 
I appreciated very much the notes at the end explaining the historical sources on Pope John VIII possibly being Joan; and truly, the most convincing argument is, to me, that history is never the truth but the record of events… written, of course, by men. And men would never allow for a case such as this to remain for posterity, would they now…

Janet Doré

An interesting story of what might have happened. Pretty basic writing, but enjoyable.

Maria

Hope Gamble

Hanna Tillmanns 

Emily

Maddy Adams

Jacqueline Jordan 

Jantien 

Rebelling against medieval strictures forbidding the education of women, young Joan assumes the identity of her murdered brother and is initiated into the monastery of Fulda, where she distinguishes herself as a great Christian scholar before relocating to Rome and becoming a powerful force in religious politics. Original.

Pope Joan A Novel

Reviews