A powerful noblewoman or a humble follower of the holy man from Assisi? All the rules say Giacoma cannot be both.

But rules are made to be broken.

Rome, 1210. After tragedy shatters Giacoma’s world, Francesco intervenes to save her sanity, her life, and her soul. She owes him everything. Her gratitude is boundless - but now she must thread her way between duty and faith, always striving to be worthy of Francesco’s affectionate name for her: Brother Giacoma.

No longer locked into the power struggle among Rome’s noble families, still she cannot turn her back on her sons, her household, and Rome’s poorest citizens who depend on her charity. As a woman she is not free to share the brothers’ life of sacred poverty, begging for her daily bread. Nor is she destined for Clare’s cloister. A new path, as yet unexplored and unsignposted, lies ahead for Giacoma dei Settesoli. If she finds it, will she be brave enough to follow it?

Based on a true story, this is an absorbing historical novel of one woman’s stubborn quest for grace. If you like strong women in the past who insist on making their own way in a patriarchal society, you’ll love Lady of the Seven Suns.

To read Lady is to savor that rarest of reading pleasures: you will live another person’s life to the full, vicarious time travel at its empathetic best. Judith Starkston, Fantasy and Magic in the Bronze Age