Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

Brilliant and talented, Joan rebels against the medieval social structures that forbid women to learn. When her brother is brutally killed, during a Viking attack, Joan takes up his cloak and his identity and enters the monastery of Fulda. As brother John, Joan distinguishes herself as a great scholar and healer. Eventually, she is drawn to Rome, where she become enmeshed in a dangerous web of love, passion and politics. She finally attains the highest office in Christendom wielding a power greater than any woman before or since. But, such power always comes at a price.

The Dark Ages come to life in all their brutal splendor. It is the story of a woman whose strength of vision led her to defy the social restrictions of the day.