Moon and Stars over Assisi

"The author brings to life four women who gave St. Francis strength and kept his memory alive. Her story is mesmerizing, her language beautifully crafted." - Judith Gallagher, author of Into the Rainbow.

FRANCIS OF ASSISI, the patron saint of Italy, the icon of peace, the lover of nature. These are charming accolades, but they tell little of the man living in the medieval world of plague, political corruption, and crusades. In this historical fiction, readers will discover that he did not survive this life alone.

Four women in Francis's life understood his journey from sinner to saint:

• His mother PICA, a mystic and healer, who bears a son able to inherit her visions and love for the poor.
• THE LADY BEATRICE, a dishonored noble woman, who affords the young merchant the opportunity to revel in his dreams of glory. But such romantic fantasies are doomed to failure.
• GIACOMA DEI SETTISOLI, a young wife from one of the most powerful families in Rome, who rescues the now traumatized Francis from certain religious persecution. But before she can help him, she must learn to heal her own self-doubt.
• ST. CLARE, the crown marriage prize in Europe, who escapes her abusive uncles to follow the beggar Il Poverello and embody his ideal of Lady Poverty.

Their lives are intertwined with Francis through the narration of Tommaso da Celano, the official biographer of the Pope. Although he has written the sanitized version of a saint's life to attract pilgrims' purses, Tommaso is haunted by the voices of these women carefully left out of Francis's story. After all, he tells himself, Il Poverello had a horror of women. But did he?

With Tommaso, readers will decide if a saint's transformation would have happened without the women in his life. It is time to share their stories.

About the Cover Design
Notes from its Creator, Kathleen Mendus Dlugos,
Professor of Art and Practicing Artist

The book cover image for Moon and Stars over Assisi is from an egg tempera painting on panel. It was inspired by the vision of the book's author, Michelle Campbell Toohey, as well as the paintings that adorn the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, primarily the artist Giotto de Bondone.

The cover image depicts the four women of the book, in a manner that echoes not only the figural work of Cimabue, teacher of Giotto, but also the mysterious tradition of the Black Madonna.

The back of the book depicts a derivation of Giotto's "St. Francis Preaching to the Birds," with the "Knot of Innana" tied around the tree, referencing the rich, integrated symbolism used in the book, as well as highlighting the historical complexity of the story.

"Lovingly written biographies of the four women who each loved passionate sinner and saint Francesco in different ways. Their stories about him are intertwined with the history of this time when the mistake of the Crusades was sanctioned by the Christian church. Perhaps they knew better than Francesco how to interpret the visions calling him to his destiny as St. Francis of Assisi." -Barbara Jean Miller, author of Viscount for Hire