Julian of Norwich

Julian of Norwich is commonly thought to have been the first woman to write a book in English that has survived. Although we do not know her real name, we refer to her as Julian of Norwich because she lived in St. Julian's Church in Norwich. There she lived as an anchoress, a religious recluse, for the entirety of her adult life. During her years of solitude, she had several mystical encounters with God through visions, which she recorded in her book Revelations of Divine Love.