The Making of Female Saints
Book Club | April 2026 | Part One
Welcome to the first monthly post for our newest Book Club read, Hild by Nicola Griffith.
Between the months of April and June 2026, we are reading one of the best works of historical fiction I think I have ever picked up.
It’s a bold claim, but I truly mean it.
Hild tells the origin story of my historical heroine, Hild of Whitby, a seventh-century Northumbrian abbess who achieved extraordinary status through her femininity in what was very much a man’s world. Using fiction to fill in the gaps in the historical record, Hild explores what might have happened before the abbess enters the pages of Bede’s narrative, the primary narrative source for this period. She is 33 years old when we first learn about her; so where did she come from?
Though we are already through our first month of reading Hild, the Book Club is designed to be evergreen, able to be picked up whenever readers find us. Below you can find full details of the schedule and first month’s readings, including additional materials for self-study, PLUS a special paid upgrade offer marking a very significant recent event in my own life (given a day ahead of its ‘official’ launch on 1st May).
