Laura Kalas, Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2020, p. 252.

Laura Kalas, a faculty member at Swansea University and a specialist in medieval women’s literature, has produced a book squarely in the emerging tradition of medical humanities scholarship. It opens with two epigrams: a harsh, painful-yet-powerful poem from Sylvia Plath about a dead woman’s body, called “Edge,” which is immediately juxtaposed with the proverbial reassurance of Julian of Norwich, “al shal be wele, and al shall be wele, and all manner thing shal be wele.” From the beginning of this insightful volume, the reader has the sense that the book will be about a woman’s body in pain but that the woman will nevertheless experience healing and redemption. For those already familiar with