In Praise of Disobedience

Clare of Assisi, a Novel
Dacia Maraini achieves a moving act of imagination. This brilliant secular writer discerns in an austere historical figure an icon for today. A visionary who liberated herself from the chains of materialism and patriarchy, in Mariani’s masterful narrative Saint Clare becomes an inspirational figure for a new generation.
An author receives a mysterious e-mail begging her to tell the story of Clare of Assisi, the thirteenth-century Italian saint. At first annoyed by the request, the author begins to research Saint Clare and becomes captivated by her life. We too are transported into the strange and beautiful world of medieval Italy, witnessing the daily rituals of convent life. At the center of that life is Saint Clare, a subversive and compelling figure full of contradictions: a physically disabled woman who travels widely in her imagination, someone unforgivingly harsh to herself yet infinitely generous to the women she supervises, a practitioner of self-abnegation who nevertheless knows her own worth. A visionary who liberated herself from the chains of materialism and patriarchy, Saint Clare here becomes an inspirational figure for a new generation of readers. 

Contributor: Jane Tylus (Translated by), Rudolph Bell (Introduction by)

Translator: Jane Tylus

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