A powerful noblewoman or a humble follower of the holy man from Assisi? All the rules say Giacoma cannot be both.But rules are made to be broken.Rome, 1210. After tragedy shatters Giacoma’s world, Francesco intervenes to save her sanity, her life, and her soul. She owes him everything. Her gratitude is boundless – but now she must thread her way between duty and faith, always striving to be … always striving to be worthy of Francesco’s affectionate name for her: “Brother Giacoma.”
No longer locked into the power struggle among Rome’s noble families, still she cannot turn her back on her sons, her household, and Rome’s poorest citizens who depend on her charity. As a woman she is not free to share the brothers’ life of sacred poverty, begging for her daily bread. Nor is she destined for Clare’s cloister. A new path, as yet unexplored and unsignposted, lies ahead for Giacoma dei Settesoli. If she finds it, will she be brave enough to follow it?
Based on a true story, this is an absorbing historical novel of one woman’s stubborn quest for grace. If you like strong women in the past who insist on making their own way in a patriarchal society, you’ll love Lady of the Seven Suns.
”To read Lady is to savor that rarest of reading pleasures: you will live another person’s life to the full, vicarious time travel at its empathetic best.” Judith Starkston, Fantasy and Magic in the Bronze Age
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In Tinney Heath’s “Lady of the Seven Suns,” we meet Giacoma, a 13th century noblewoman who wrestles with a question that plagues believers today: how does a Christian stay faithful to God while living in a world that prizes fame and wealth?
Giacoma comes from prominent Roman families (by birth and marriage) and is an early supporter and follower of Francesco (St. Francis of Assisi), who is committed to owning literally nothing. Ms. Heath depicts Francesco as both a holy man and a human being, one who is beloved but not always easy to be around. I must admit: I knew little about Francesco before reading this novel. Ms. Heath’s depiction of the saint make him very real.
Giacoma and Francesco’s relationship is not always easy. Giacoma must navigate being a widowed mother of two sons who expect to become knights, matriarch of an unconventional household, and benefactor of the poor as well as face troublesome kinsmen. She also must contend with her worries about Francesco’s health and her envy of Chiara (St. Clare) and the other woman’s closeness to Francesco in a life of holy poverty.
Giacoma and Francesco’s friendship lasts decades as she watches and supports a nascent, revolutionary order grow into a movement. The story culminates in a poignant ending. Highly recommended.
I had previously read Heath’s first novel, A Thing Done, so I was eager to read this, her second endeavor, especially because of the subject matter. Growing up Catholic, I, like many others, knew St. Francis (Francesco, in Heath’s story) as the saint who loved animals and who came from Assisi. That was pretty much the extent of my knowledge, but he intrigued me, especially now that Heath’s well-researched story was before me. Does her St. Francis love animals? Sure, but there is so much more to him than that.
We meet him through the point of view of the story’s heroine, Giacoma. She is a noblewoman of Rome (and a historic figure) who finds her idyllic life shattered by a life-changing tragedy. It is through that tragedy that her relationship with Francis is solidified, and her life is forever altered. She dedicates herself to serving his burgeoning order. She hopes to emulate the future saint and his vow of extreme poverty, but Francis has other plans for her.
Heath’s characters are well-defined, her descriptions of Rome and Assisi are vivid and textural, and, as in her first novel, she provides a narrative filled with humor. Her heroine is relatable, and we feel her struggle to balance her life between her earthly family and her spiritual goals of following Francis’s way of poverty.
I wish I had read this novel before I visited Assisi! The novel has so much about the life of St. Francis of Assisi and his acolytes that I never knew about. Her story about Giacoma de Settesoli, a wealthy Roman widow who comes to know Francis and support him through his years on earth fell into the shadows over the centuries. The novel also involves St. Clare and her devotion to the ascetic life that Francis advocated. This novel brings to life the story of these medieval saints in ways that don’t make it onto holy cards or into history books.
I hope I can someday return to Assisi and find Giacoma’s tomb near that of St. Francis’s. Highly recommended.
Review of Lady of the Seven Suns, by Tinney Sue Heath
Through Tinney Heath’s latest novel, Lady of the Seven Suns, readers will travel into a vividly portrayed medieval Italy and into the life of Francesco (St. Francis of Assisi) through the eyes of his most intriguing follower, Lady Giacoma dei Settesoli, a woman he called Brother Giacoma as a sign of his affection and respect.
Heath has accomplished something of a brilliant high wire act with this book. With deep and reverent believability, she captures both Giacoma’s and Francesco’s passionate devotion to God without any saccharin religiosity or necessary co-belief on the reader’s part. I experienced these complicated, fascinating lives as they historically were, and I accepted their beliefs, far from my own, while I tarried with them, without ever being tossed out of their medieval world. As easily as I slipped into Giacoma’s religious beliefs, Heath also enmeshed my mind seamlessly with Giacoma’s social mores as an influential woman from one of the most powerful families in Rome. To read Lady of the Seven Suns is to savor that rarest of reading pleasures: you will live another person’s life to the full, vicarious time travel at its empathetic best.
The depth and breadth of Heath’s historical knowledge and research is abundantly clear in the richness and precision of detail in her portrayal of everyday life, from Giacoma’s clothes and palazzo to the kitchen pots to the realities of relationships between the servants and this unconventional noblewoman. But Heath never overburdens her story with this knowledge. She has achieved that magical balance of just enough to put us in her world without our realizing we’ve traveled so far.
Heath also uses humor at delightful intervals. At one point the future saint, several assorted brothers of diverse size and running capacity, and a highly indignant noble brother-in-law are portrayed in the midst of pursuing a sheep through Giacoma’s palazzo. The frightened creature and Giacoma’s annoying brother-in-law make all the right moves for sustained hilarity. You will join Brother Elias in uncontrollable laughter. Heath has a dry wit that pops up to lighten tense situations. At one point, Lucia, a key servant in the household, is described as “wielding a formidable soprano with an impressive range of pitch and intensity, quivering with outrage.” The fact that we are genuinely worried about Lucia’s feelings at this moment doesn’t lessen the smile this brings.
And therein lies a key part of Giacoma’s character, her ability to find humor to conquer the grimness. With help from Francesco—there is one key moment she really needs him to return her to this innate positive outlook—she keeps striving for inner happiness through the worst of tragedies and limitations. For all her devotional dedication, she is fundamentally pragmatic, even in her praying: “I loved the way praying made me feel. I loved the respite it gave me from living, breathing human beings and their demands, and I loved how it always cleared my thinking but I never really saw it as a conversation with God. I spoke the words, and he either did or did not listen, as he chose.” In contrast to Giacoma’s grounded approach, Francesco’s otherworldliness is delicately portrayed with a mystical image that reappears in various forms over the course of the novel. The first time we see the power of Francesco’s prayer, he is described like this: “a fine mist surrounded him. The whole interior of the tower was growing lighter, the light centering on the praying man, the mist taking on a pale apricot color as it eddied gently around him.”
Lady of the Seven Suns will take you on a transcendent journey full of laughter, tears, humane joy, and subtle historical understanding.