Heloise / Mandy Hager.

"Forbidden love in a hostile world" --Front cover.

Heloise has an exceptional mind. In her determination to pursue learning rather than marriage or life as a cloistered nun, her path inevitably crosses with Peter Abelard, the celebrity philosopher, theologian and master at Paris' famed Cathedral School. When two such brilliant minds meet and engage, sparks are likely to fly. And when those two minds belong to a charismatic man and a determined young woman, those sparks are likely to ignite. But theirs is an impossible love. At a time when the Gregorian Reforms are starting to bite and celibacy among the clergy and church officials is being rigorously imposed, these two embark on an affair that will see their lives forever changed. Based on meticulous up-to-date research and the pair's own writings, this novel recreates the times, offers a plausible interpretation of the known facts and a vivid imagining of the gaps in this legendary story. So, too, it shines a light on a changing world whose attitudes and politics are not so very different from our own.