{"product_id":"9780307452368","title":"Pope Joan","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"\u003ci\u003ePope Joan\u003c\/i\u003e has all the elements one wants in a historical drama – love, sex, violence, duplicity, and long-buried secrets. Cross has written an engaging book.\"\u003ci\u003e–Los Angeles Times Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this international bestseller and basis for the 2009 movie of the same name\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e Donna Woolfolk Cross brings the Dark Ages to life in all their brutal splendor and shares the dramatic story of a woman whose strength of vision led her to defy the social restrictions of her day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor a thousand years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die–-Pope Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in this riveting novel, Cross paints a sweeping portrait of an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrilliant and talented, young Joan rebels against medieval social strictures forbidding women to learn. When her brother is brutally killed during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak—and his identity—and enters the monastery of Fulda. As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great scholar and healer. Eventually, she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over appalling odds, she finally attains the highest office in Christendom—wielding a power greater than any woman before or since. But such power always comes at a price . . . \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Brings the savage ninth century vividly to life in all its alien richness. An enthralling, scholarly historical novel.\"\u003cbr\u003e—Rebecca Fraser, Author of The Brontës\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Crown\/Archetype","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47015770390768,"sku":"9780307452368","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780307452368_p0.jpg?v=1769887696","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780307452368","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}