Blessed Bonne Lamére, also calles Mirabilis c1350 - ? Feast Day July 31
A local saint of the former Villeneuve (now Mondville), Bonne La Mére was the illegitimate daughter of a woman once believed to have participated in a miracle herself. Orphaned at age twelve, Bonne lived for some years as an urchin before 1367, when she turns up in the town records as a wet nurse. Her career was of little distinction until VIlleneuve was besieged in 1372; then general famine became the rule until Bonne miraculously began to nurse virtually the whole town for some weeks. It was her first miracle. She is said thereafter to have cured several people of severe affliction, including a sick child who lived with her and a madman who later became a monk. She is also associated with the miraculous appearance of a statue in her likeness, now unfortunately lost………She is considered to have achieved some reputation as a writer of spiritual tracts and hagiographies, only fragments of which survive, and to have founded a unique library of oral history. Most of theses documents have also been lost, the remainder can be found at the Bibliothéque Nationale. Said to have given milk well into her eighth decade, Bonne is revered as a protector of nursing mothers, reformed prostitutes, prisoners and surprisingly, dwarfs.
From L”Encyclopédie spirituelle du Haut Poitou médiéval, edited by Enid Dardanelles

From this extract Susann Cokal has written a stunning historical novel capturing the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of medieval France. The story is largely told by Bonne LaMére in the first person but with interjections from other characters in her story: Hercule a dwarf, Godfridus a sculptor, and a Bakerwoman. The story covers a five month period during which Bonne (named Tardieu by father Pierre) becomes prospective wet nurse to Radegonde Putemonnoie; (the most wealthy of widows in Villeneuve). She lives in her chateau becomes her lover, pleads for her life when Radegonne is incarcerated and accused of which craft. She gives suck to many deserving citizens of the town who are starving due to the English seige and finally acts as midwife delivering Radegonde of her daughter.

Author Susann Cokal revels in the physicality of medieval France. Describing in detail the sickness of those that suffered from the plague, the bestiality of bear baiting, the starvation caused by a prolonged siege, conditions in a medieval prison, the suffering of an anchoress, the injuries resulting from a misplaced chisel hammer blow. She also delights in the fleshiness and sexuality of the times; lesbian love making, an orgy of gluttony, the pleasures of breast feeding and then the horrors of a cesarian birth. Desire is writ large in many of the characters, but they must all battle with the religious teachings and fervour of the period. The sins of the flesh are on everybody's mind, there are few that are brave enough to discount the prospect of hell fire. It is the clergy that hold the power in this life and the next and this is portrayed superbly in Mirabilis. Bonne LaMére’s story is largely consequential and relatively easy to follow, however the interjections by Hercule and Godfridis take the reader into another mindset as Cokal takes us into the realms of oppressed sexuality and religious fanaticism. This whole stew of impressions and mysticality together with the dirt and the devilry serve to give an in your face view of life in medieval times. I was convinced.

Much criticism is made of historical novelists who take a contemporary world view (21st century) and imbue their characters with these to such an extent that their motivations although credible to the modern reader are unlikely to have resulted in the actions they take in the story. Obviously it is difficult to gage this correctly, but I think Cokal does an excellent job in putting her readers into the thoughts an actions of Medieval people, nothing jars too much as we are taken literally into another world, where not everything should be clear to us.

Cokal’s story is a good one as she weaves her fiction around the few facts that have emerged from Bonne LaMére. There are moments when the readers feels acutely the dangers for women that were inherent in being a supposed miracle worker on the one hand and a rich widow on the other. Suffering, pain and death were always around the corner, a future was always in the balance and powerful forces could blow people away in an instant, for many the solace of religion was the only answer, but there were some that didn’t believe and they had their own fears with which to contend. Cokal captures this well in some eye grabbing prose. A fine achievement for a first novel and I rate it at 4 stars. ( )

The story of a young woman in 1300' France, a time when people believed in miracles and the church held a lot of power. Bonne's mother named no father to her child, and died in a terrible church fire. Bonne has struggled to make a living, and now is a wet nurse. When the town comes under siege and her latest client is arrested, she finds a way to survive and help some of her friends.
The last chapter cites a reference, which makes it appear that this is based on a real person.
Interesting, and a perspective on an unfamiliar time. I'll pass this book on to friends, but it isn't one I feel any need to reread. ( )

A gorgeous, lush story of 14th century France, rife with sensuality, miracles, heresy and magic. It’s the story of Bonne, a wet nurse on the fringes of society, who becomes the savior of her town during a famine.

Mirabilis is a beautifully written, intriguing story of religion and superstition. There is a lot going on in the book – purported miracles, rumored heresy, famine, healing, mischief and devotion – and it would be difficult to do justice to the story here. There are three primary voices in the book, and they weave together into a vivid tapestry depicting the society and environment of medieval France. The descriptions of place are very strong, and the character development is well done. Some of the details are very explicit, though not gratuitous, and for me, made the story come that much more alive; some readers, however, might be turned off. ( )