The Journal of Hildegard of Bingen: A Novel by Barbara Lachman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lachman imagines a journal, kept by Hildegard in the year of 1152, one of the more eventful in her life as her abbey at Bingen was getting established and she made advances in her musical composition. This was an enjoyable way to summarize aspects of Hildegard's life and thought, and it was easy to forget that I was reading a novel and not actual excerpts from journals and letters (though Lachman used quotes and extensive research into Hildegard's writings).

I first was drawn to Hildegard when in college I heard a friend playing a cd of her music, but set to more contemporary musical forms. It was haunting, inspiring, and mesmerizing, and has remained a favourite cd of mine.

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