The Heresy of Love by Helen Edmundson
In a convent in Mexico, one of the brightest women of her generation strives to reconcile her love for God with her desire for learning and acclaim. Her gift for writing plays and poetry is celebrated by the Court, but her success creates alarm and jealousy within the Church. Persecuted by a zealous archbishop and betrayed by those closest to her, Sister Juana's fragile world threatens to crumble around her as everything she holds dear is cruelly destroyed by dangerous ambition and illicit desires. This title comes from the multi-award-winning author Helen Edmundson, whose plays include Mary Shelley; The Clearing (winner of the John Whiting Award for Best New Play) and the National Theatre's 2005 smash hit Coram Boy.