Pope Joan

A global best-seller, big screen adaptation, and soon-to-be "Director's Cut" TV miniseries produced only for the United States!

Her existence has been denied for a millennium. Pope Joan, the woman who lived in the ninth century and aspired to become the only woman to hold the throne of St. Peter, is the tale that never dies. Now, Donna Woolfolk Cross creates a vivid picture of a memorable protagonist who battles against limitations her spirit cannot accept in this gripping book.

Young Joan, gifted and intelligent, defies the medieval societal mores that forbade women from receiving an education. After her brother is cruelly murdered in a Viking invasion, Joan adopts his cloak and assumes his name in order to attend the Fulda monastery. Joan makes a name for herself as a brilliant scholar and healer as Brother John Anglicus. She eventually finds herself pulled to Rome, where she becomes caught up in a perilous web of intrigue, passion, and love. She ultimately achieves the greatest position in Christendom, triumphing against unbelievable obstacles and wielding more authority than any woman before or after. However, there is always a cost to such power...

In this worldwide best-seller, Cross tells the epic tale of a lady whose vision allowed her to overcome societal constraints in her day and brings the Dark Ages to life in all its gruesome glory.