An engrossing guide to the life of one of the most impressive women in any age – but doubly impressive considering that Christine lived during the Late Mediaeval period. Here are trials and triumphs that many a modern woman would be proud to have weathered, all carefully documented by her biographer. Christine's works are placed in the context of the time; her early poems, designed to catch the attention of her market, gradually developing into allegories and biographies of the great figures of her day. I would have welcomed a little more on her early life, to explain how she grew into such an exceptional woman, but that's just a nitpick when compared to the light this book sheds on a writer who even today does not receive the attention she merits. ( )