Alone of All Her Sex
The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary
Vintage (paperback) UK, US

'Her book explores the cult in all its ramifications peeling aside each successive accretion of doctrine and devotion in order to examine its moral, social, and emotional implications. Well-constructed and written with an attractive combination of astringent intelligence and warm sensitivity. The book abounds in perspective insights. It is based on wide reading and it brings out admirably just what a many-layered construction the fully developed cult of the Virgin has become. Miss Warner does not underrate the realities of faith and she shows a sensitive appreciation of the artistic and literary achievements which have been accomplished in the Virgin's name.'
New York Review of Books

'Marina Warner begins with the gospels, noting the slight allusions to Mary, and the curious confusions between the two women of that name. She points out the falsities, fables and manifest fabrications that have shaped mariolatry. This intriguing and intelligent book is an attempt to explain the origins, growth, appeal and persistence of the Virgin's cult. The narrative is a rich, allusive tapestry set in a framework of theological commentary.'
New Society

'Astonishing and enlightening...It can delight the mind and eye of any reader alert to the vicissitudes of cultural change. One is led on from page to page, greedy for more...Her style is so packed with scholarship, imagery, vivid selection, and wry contrastive comment.'
MARGARET MEAD Harpers

'An exciting book and...a very major contribution to feminist history.'
Time Out

'Miss Warner's book is splendidly produced, and impressive as a work of remarkably elegant and eloquent scholarship.'
PHILIP TOYNBEE The Observer

'This is perhaps the best illustration since Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man of a helpless love-hate relationship between a lapsed catholic and the faith...the book makes important and fascinating reading.'
The Economist

'Miss Warner is a careful and thorough scholar, and few readers will come away from Alone of All Her Sex without a vastly enriched perspective on European history and how important religious ideas and artistic expressions were interrelated within it.'
CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT New York Times

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