A Wife There Was

'Alison,' says her father, 'will be brought up as a boy.'

But this unwanted daughter is her own person.
A rebellious child, then a feisty woman.
challenging all male authority,
scorning the church's ideals of virginity and chastity,
embracing avidly the forbidden pleasures of sexuality.
Many husbands come her way - some by chance, some by choice.
So too does love - at its best, at its worst.

Born into a turbulent age
of never-ending war, relentless bubonic plague,
political unrest and fierce heresy-hunting,
Alison is very much a 14th century woman.

And yet...
her resilience and survival are timeless

Her life is haunted by conflict
between robust carnality
and a yearning for the serenity of spirituality
that she never finds. The years bring bleak inner journeys darkened by
sorrow and loss and buried secrets.

And yet, and yet...
come what may, Alison's abounding joy
is a light that never dims for long.