This was an interesting and enjoyable historical fiction centered around the legend of a woman who disguised herself as a man, rose through the ranks of the learned and the Catholic church and became Pope John. All of this supposedly took place way back in the 800's. Her ruse was up, however, when she gave birth during a papal procession and either died of childbirth, or was tied to her horse and stoned by an angry mob. 
 Not much is known about the supposed woman pope, but the author, Donna Woolfolk, does a nice job of fictionalizing the life of this woman, from child to childbirth, in an entertaining, and very well researched, way. 
 I enjoyed the book and the details of life in the dark ages that were brought to life on its pages. I've learned that a movie of the same name was made in 2009. I haven't found it in my library, but I really want to see it.