In the late seventeenth century, the French Catholic Church was undergoing a crisis in its relations with Rome and in religious movements within its own borders. Madame Jeanne Guyon was both and instigator and a victim of this religious questioning. A wealthy widow, she read the works of saints like Frances de Sales and Catherine of Sienna. Eventually she began writing her own theological tracts in which she advocated complete surrender to the will of God in all things. To do so, she averred, one must seek internally, emptying the self until flooded with divine purpose. She was condemned as a heretic partially because of the popularity of her work, partly because she dispensed with the hierarchy of the Church and partly because she became entangled in a political battle centering on the secret wife of Louis XIV, Madame de Maintenon. James, an Episcopal priest and professor of religion at Marymount University in Virginia, discusses the theology of Madame Guyon, quoting extensively from her autobiography and other works. She traces the influences of religious exemplars and the vicissitudes of Guyon's life in creating her beliefs. James shows a certain tendency to accept the statements in the autobiography uncritically. It is also not always clear which theologies are those of Guyon and which the opinions of James. Nevertheless, this neglected aspect of France at the time of the Sun King, is one that deserves further study. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)