Book Review: Pope Joan

One of my favorite stores is Half Price Books. I love that I can get gently used books for half the price or less. Often times it's a little difficult to find books you are looking for specifically, but I always stumble upon something I want to read. A novel called Pope Joan was one such book. I wasn't looking for it and I'd never heard of it, but it looked intriguing and at just $7 I decided to buy it.

I took it with me on my trip to The Netherlands and read most of it on the flight over. (It was so good, I kept reading and didn't watch any movies.) The book was first published in 1997 and has been translated into lots of different languages.

The premise of the book is the exploration of the legend that a female pope led the church during the 9th century, otherwise known as the Dark Ages. Now, the church does not acknowledge that a woman could have risen as high as the papacy, but based on some historical information it could have happened.

Being a huge fan of historical fiction I really enjoyed this book. I love when an author can create a compelling story for a character, whether truth or legend.

I've also recently read this book will be made into a movie. I think it's funny how this happens. I've read several books I had never heard of that subsequently became movies, of course the books were always better, but still. When I studied abroad in England I picked up The Other Boleyn Girl and five or six years later it became popular and was made into a movie. Memoirs of a Geisha- much better book than movie.

I digress, the point is, if you're interested in the "possible" history of the Catholic church and the legend of a possible female pope and how she could have risen so high I would recommend this book. I found it very enjoyable.