Reviews

"A rare example of the life of a nonaristocratic woman of the period and...a vivid picture of convent life and the Roman Catholic Church during the upheavals of the Counter-Reformation. Fascinating and highly readable."--The New York Times Book Review "Brown is a wonderful storyteller...[She] delivers a scholarly work that is also a story of tragedy and intrigue."--San Francisco Chronicle
"This is a very well-written and engaging book that explores issues of religion, sexuality and gender."--Professor Cliff Hubby, New York University
"Brown's research and analysis is meticulous, her storytelling compelling, and the documents themselves a treasure....An extraordinary glimpse into the world of a seventeenth-century convent....A fascinating contribution to the women's history and lesbian history literature."--Leila Rupp, Women's Studies Review
"An intensely human and engrossing story, Brown's book is the best book available on the female experience during the Counter-Reformation."--Edward Muir, Louisiana State University
"[Brown's] discussion of the cultural component in Sister Benedetta's visions, their relationship to the religious art and devotional literature of the time, like her analysis of official reactions to the case, make Immodest Acts a serious contribution to ecclesiastical history."--Journal of Ecclesiastical History
"Good history and highly recommended reading."--History: Reviews of New Books
"A fascinating reconstruction of a piece of pre-modern life in its most intimate details, and an invaluable work of history."--The Nation
"A rare example of the life of a nonaristocratic woman of the period and...a vivid picture of convent life and the Roman Catholic Church during the upheavals of the Counter-Reformation. Fascinating and highly readable."--The New York Times Book Review
"A fascinating story of a female mystic in a small town in seventeenth-century Italy. Sister Benedetta's visions are dramas enacted on a stage of convent politics, her sexual expressiveness part of her wider gift of spiritual imagination."--Natalie Zemon Davis, Princeton University
"A vivid, scary, and compelling narrative that will alter the history of women, religion, and sexuality."--Catharine R. Stimpson, Rutgers University
"A book for the general reader, a book already making news."--Publishers Weekly
"Brown is a wonderful storyteller...[She] delivers a scholarly work that is also a story of tragedy and intrigue."--San Francisco Chronicle
"The solid scholarly apparatus with which the author illuminates each of these themes brings historical significance to the life of one long-forgotten seventeenth-century nun. Scholars and students of the history of sexuality and religious life will profit from Brown's recounting and interpretation of the life of Benedetta Carlini."--Religious Studies Review
"Good book!"--Margery A. Ganz, Spelman College

Brown (History, Stanford University), has written a scholarly but highly read able account of the life of a 16th-centu ry Italian nun. Benedetta Carlini was born in 1590 in the countryside around Pescia, became Abbess of the Theatine Convent of the Mother of God, was tried and sentenced to imprisonment within the convent for various theologi cal as well as sexual infractions, but was finally given not only a Christian but also a quasi-saintly burial. The nar rative reveals much about medieval sexual views; patriarchal society; and religious power, including the popular power of so-called visionaries. Brown skillfully uses the effects of hierarchy within church, society, and convent as illustrations of the functioning of ambi tion and pride. Highly recommended for religious and feminist collections as well as for those of medieval history. Carolyn M. Craft, English, Philosophy & Foreign Languages Dept., Long wood Coll., Farmville, Va.

"A rare example of the life of a nonaristocratic woman of the period and...a vivid picture of convent life and the Roman Catholic Church during the upheavals of the Counter-Reformation. Fascinating and highly readable."--The New York Times Book Review "Brown is a wonderful storyteller...[She] delivers a scholarly work that is also a story of tragedy and intrigue."--San Francisco Chronicle "This is a very well-written and engaging book that explores issues of religion, sexuality and gender."--Professor Cliff Hubby, New York University "Brown's research and analysis is meticulous, her storytelling compelling, and the documents themselves a treasure....An extraordinary glimpse into the world of a seventeenth-century convent....A fascinating contribution to the women's history and lesbian history literature."--Leila Rupp, Women's Studies Review "An intensely human and engrossing story, Brown's book is the best book available on the female experience during the Counter-Reformation."--Edward Muir, Louisiana State University "[Brown's] discussion of the cultural component in Sister Benedetta's visions, their relationship to the religious art and devotional literature of the time, like her analysis of official reactions to the case, make Immodest Acts a serious contribution to ecclesiastical history."--Journal of Ecclesiastical History "Good history and highly recommended reading."--History: Reviews of New Books "A fascinating reconstruction of a piece of pre-modern life in its most intimate details, and an invaluable work of history."--The Nation "A rare example of the life of a nonaristocratic woman of the period and...a vivid picture of convent life and the Roman Catholic Church during the upheavals of the Counter-Reformation. Fascinating and highly readable."--The New York Times Book Review "A fascinating story of a female mystic in a small town in seventeenth-century Italy. Sister Benedetta's visions are dramas enacted on a stage of convent politics, her sexual expressiveness part of her wider gift of spiritual imagination."--Natalie Zemon Davis, Princeton University "A vivid, scary, and compelling narrative that will alter the history of women, religion, and sexuality."--Catharine R. Stimpson, Rutgers University "A book for the general reader, a book already making news."--Publishers Weekly "Brown is a wonderful storyteller...[She] delivers a scholarly work that is also a story of tragedy and intrigue."--San Francisco Chronicle "The solid scholarly apparatus with which the author illuminates each of these themes brings historical significance to the life of one long-forgotten seventeenth-century nun. Scholars and students of the history of sexuality and religious life will profit from Brown's recounting and interpretation of the life of Benedetta Carlini."--Religious Studies Review "Good book!"--Margery A. Ganz, Spelman College