I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Joan Mueller is a Franciscan scholar, so this is as near to being a biography as is possible. She has used her imagination to flesh out the known facts and has written a very readable account of Francis’ life and times. She brought to life the horrors of the frequent wars between adjacent towns in the region, the greed of the merchants, the arrogance of the nobles, all of which Francis rebels against by giving up home, family and possessions to preach the word of God as his Master had told him. Back in 2004 I read and reviewed The Passionate Troubadour - A Medieval Novel about Francis of Assisi by Edward Hays and was very impressed with it. Fortunately it was long enough ago not to spoil my enjoyment of Joan Mueller’s novel. Francis came alive for me in a very special way. No wonder so many have been inspired by him throughout subsequent generations. Excellent.