Queens of a Fallen World: The lost women of Augustine’s Confessions by Kate Cooper (Basic Books, £20 (£18); 978-1-399-80796-8).

“The powerful and surprising story of the four remarkable women who changed Augustine’s life — and history — forever. While many know of St Augustine and the Confessions, few know of the women whose hopes and dreams shaped his early life: his mother, Monnica of Thagaste; his lover; his fiancee; and Justina, the troubled empress of ancient Rome. Drawing upon their depictions in the Confessions, historian Kate Cooper skilfully reconstructs their lives against the backdrop of the late Roman Empire to paint a vivid portrait of the turbulent society they and Augustine moved through.”


Julian of Norwich’s Literary Legacy by Luke Penkett (DLT, £19.99 (£17.99); 978-1-913657-80-2).

“This book is a systematic linguistic study of, and commentary upon, Julian of Norwich’s A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman. Luke Penkett draws attention to the medieval anchoress’s stylistic brilliance, clarifies complicated passages for the twenty-first century reader, and summarises and builds upon the wisdom of the most up-to-date scholarly research to inspire fresh insight of what is the earliest record of a woman writing in the English language. Penkett gives context to Julian’s writing with a survey of other English literary texts of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.” 


Defining God: Athanasius, Nicaea and the Trinitarian controversy of the fourth century by Patrick Whitworth (Sacristy Press, £16.99 (£15.29); 978-1-78959-267-2).

“Defining God tells the story of that [the Trinitarian] controversy: its main protagonists, the involvement of imperial power from Constantine and his successors, its history and theological twists and turns, and the many creeds and councils of this period, including the Nicene Creed which many Christians say week by week.”

Selected by Frank Nugent, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.