The Ancrene Wisse is a spiritual guide forfemale recluses, written at the request ofthree young anchoresses who were voluntarily enclosed for life within small cells. Withrare sensitivity and discernment, LindaGeorgianna analyzes this complex and skillfully composed treatise and examines its detailed portrayal of the rich, sometimes rewarding and sometimes frustrating innerlife of the solitary. Georgianna sees inthe author's practical and spiritual counsel, ranging from advice on owning a cat to theconfession of sin, an assumption that exterior and interior realities are...