Rapture

Reviews / Votes

A spectacular story of shape-shifting, love and faith, as a singular woman journeys into the depth of her soul. A feat to bring such early history to new life, so rich in desire, and so spare in self-pity. It enthralled me -- Jessie Burton, author of THE HOUSE OF FORTUNE Rapture is a fierce, sexy, heady maelstrom of a book. It sucked me in from the first page - a glittering feat of imagination -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE MERCIES Rapture is astonishing - a scorching vision of a book. Drawing on history, legend, speculation and gossip, Maguire's medieval girl-Pope story is made of many things: flesh and earth and blood; ambition and abnegation; rage and transcendence, all pouring into this pagan, biblical, strange and mighty work from an imagination in soaring flight -- Charlotte Wood, Booker-shortlisted author of STONE YARD DEVOTIONAL What an amazing book. It's so beautifully written that I wanted to slow down and savour every sentence, whilst also rushing ahead to find out what happens. It's bursting with earthy and visionary life -- Sarah Brooks, author of THE CAUTIOUS TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO THE WASTELANDS Impeccably researched and vividly imagined this is historical fiction of the highest calibre. In Maguire's hands, the legend of Pope Joan becomes a story that women of every generation will recognise: a story of embattled womanhood, forced subterfuge and constant, fear-ridden struggle. Rapture is a reminder of the price women throughout history have been forced to pay in order to fulfil their ambitions, satisfy their intellectual curiosities and to quench their thirst for life. Its tragic end shows just how far the world has gone (and will yet go) to suppress both female intellect and sexuality -- Annie Garthwaite, author of CECILY Bold and unexpected, Rapture buzzes with life and energy. It is an extraordinary story of womanhood, told so beautifully that I was thinking about it long after I had finished -- Rosanna Pike, author of A LITTLE TRICKERIE What an incredible book Rapture is. Profound, frightening and extraordinarily beautiful. It has all the hallmarks of a great thriller - such tension - mixed with the quiet, confident beauty of Agnes' voice - her fury and her love -- Evie Wyld, author of THE ECHOES I adored Emily Maguire's lush, immersive historical novel Rapture -- Diana Reid, Writers pick the best books of 2024 * Sydney Morning Herald * My book of the year is Emily Maguire's extraordinary Rapture - fierce, wise and magnificent -- Kate Mildenhall, Writers pick the best reads of 2024 * Sydney Morning Herald * Emily Maguire has created an earthy, visceral, and sensual tale, full of devotion, intrigue and passion. Ninth-century Europe feels astonishingly tangible and vivid, and Maguire's protagonist, Agnes, is utterly compelling as she sweeps all before her, treading where no woman has dared venture before. A stunning novel -- Victoria MacKenzie, author of FOR THY GREAT PAIN HAVE MERCY ON MY LITTLE PAIN Fresh and intimate . . . Rapture is steeped in history but it wears those trappings lightly; it's an easy read with plenty of intrigue and high stakes . . . There is a layer of Maguire's novel for readers who delight in the sensual creation of books, from the parchment to the words written on it. In these moments, Agnes might be the same eager reader as any of us, brought to life by a story's energy. She is not only Pope Joan but also a child, a scholar, a woman, a lover, a teacher. And through her, Maguire manages to tease apart, if only for a moment, the purity of faith itself from the ambitions of the institutions that control it * Guardian * Maguire has a mastery over her narrative so that we believe in and delight in this implausible story about a woman, a non-person, becoming Pope, of living entirely in a male world, of never being out of disguise as a man, of no one guessing her secret. As Agnes, she was powerless, as Brother John she understands power and uses it well . . . Absorbing, educative and thoughtful * Sydney Morning Herald * Maguire has performed the dazzling feat of making the earthly feel miraculous and the heavenly feel intimate. This glorious novel both burns and sings -- Fiona McFarlane, author of THE SUN WALKS DOWN This book is so alive and real I was totally hooked from the start. It captures both the grit of daily human life and the soaring ecstasies of the eternal burning spirit. Another masterpiece from Maguire -- Bri Lee, author of THE WORK Rapture is the perfect title for this wonderful, original story of devotion, passion and purpose. I felt myself transported, seamlessly, to another time, long ago, with Agnes, the novel's determined protagonist, as my guide. I loved her -- Sofie Laguna, author of INFINITE SPLENDOURS An enthralling evocation of a world in turmoil, threaded through by the life of a singular, brilliant woman. The wonder of Rapture is that Maguire makes a time more than a thousand years distant feel so vivid and its concerns so alive. Agnes's choices are enduring: How do you become your truest self; what might you sacrifice along the way? This richly inhabited novel is as audacious and unwavering as Agnes herself -- Lucy Treloar, author of DAYS OF INNOCENCE AND WONDER A strange and magnificent vision of a novel: in Agnes, Maguire embodies a ferocity of both the mind and body, ambition and humility, wisdom, desire, sacrifice, grace and a refusal to follow the path laid down for her. Maguire's language and storytelling soars. I was transfixed. Maguire effortlessly transitions to deeply researched and utterly compelling historical fiction in the style of Lauren Groff, Hannah Kent, Anthony Doerr and Pip Williams -- Kate Mildenhall, author of THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT PRAISE FOR EMILY MAGUIRE'S AN ISOLATED INCIDENT

Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize

'Superb writing and sense of place. Totally credible voices. Read her!'
Ann Cleeves

'This hugely chilling and evocative story, mixing lyrical language and brutal events, is told with great psychological acuity'
Anita Sethi See-sawing between seductive sensuality and religious asceticism, Rapture unspools the story of the legendary Joan, who begins life in 9th-century Mainz as motherless Agnes. -- Books of the Summer * Daily Mail * A complex heroine who wrestles with the demands of faith, lust and ambition... A forceful wonder -- Historical Fiction Book of the Month * The Times * A gripping, gorgeous story of faith and feminism... A rapturous read * Daily Mail * Mesmerising from beginning to end * Glamour *