sv podcast – for thy great pain, have mercy on my little pain

In this month’s podcast Holly & Darren review the debut novel, For Thy Great Pain, Have Mercy On My Little Pain, by Victoria MacKenzie. It’s a short novel, published earlier this year, and is about the lives of two fourteenth-century mystics, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe.

Vividly and beautifully written, it explores medieval women’s lives, the effects of grief and trauma, and the genesis of women’s writing. And. Much. More.

We also bring you up-to-date about our uncoupling from Twitter/X – no more updates from us there, oh no. Find us on Facebook and NOW (*small drum roll*) you can subscribe to email updates, and interact with us, via Substack.

Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich would have been AMAZING on Substack.

Also getting a mention in this podcast:
Anthony Bale
Karen Armstrong
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Debbie White

Sensual, vivid and humane, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain cracks history open to reveal the lives of two extraordinary women.” Bloomsbury

This podcast was recorded on Thursday 5 October 2023. Available from Apple Podcasts , TuneIn Radio, and via your favourite podcast App.
Duration: 41’59 minutes.
Theme music by Nicolai Heidlas.

Home page: Julian of Norwich statue photo via Wikimedia Commons

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Geraldine Rooney says:

October 12, 2023 at 2:29 pm

Oh, my speckled soul, thanks for bringing this to me, it sounds right up my spiritual street! I will ask Santa for the book. It also brings me many happy happy memories of my cousin, a Cistercian monk in Ireland. He died in 2020 well in his nineties, but continues to comfort and inspire me. I remember him telling me about the struggles he had with God: a young man in Derry, returned from teacher training in London and working as a teacher. God called him to an enclosed order in a monastery in the Knockmealdown Mountains in a part of Ireland he did not know or, initially, care for (there are Cistercians in the north, but that evidently didn’t suit God’s purpose for him). The régime of his formation (as it’s known) was punishing. He tried to leave several times, but could not – and grew to love it so much. Astonishing.

I meant to say that, like Holly, the title speaks to me – very subjective, isn’t it.

October 13, 2023 at 10:00 am

Me again! A friend has just recommended “ The Corner That Held Them” by Sylvia Townsend Warner – it looks a bit Marmite…but I may make it a double. He thinks the title you reviewed is off-putting.

Darren says:

October 14, 2023 at 8:40 am

Thanks Geraldine, haven’t heard of the other title, let us know if you think it’s a good ‘un. And thanks for sharing re your cousin.

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