This is a new edition of Thérèse Taylor's scholarly biography of Bernadette Soubirous, published to mark the 150th Anniversary of Bernadette vision at the Grotto in Lourdes.

 Thérèse Taylor explains who Bernadette was, and how she lived and died but takes no position on whether or not her visions were genuine. This story begins in Bernadette's native country of the Pyrenees, a montain region haunted by tales of fairies, witches and miraculous groves and springs. It follows Bernadette's atonishing life story, from her family circle, through her years of fame, to her retirement at the convent of St Gildard at Nevers. Her difficult relationships with the historians of Lourdes and her lengthy terminal illness are also considered

This biography places Bernadette in the context of her time. She was born into a volatile family and her parent's lives were blighted by economic failure and alcoholism. At the age of fourteen Bernadette was an illiterate child-servant, who suddenly experienced a series of visions of a white Lady in the Grotto of Massabielle. 

Town people, governement officials, clergy and journalists were all drawn in, and sought out Bernadette in order to access her story. A chain of events was set off which made her one of the most famous women in France. Bernadette has to be understood not only in religious terms, but also with reference to themes such as tourism, commercialism, mass-representation and the exploitation of female celebrities.

Thérèse Taylor teaches history at Charles Stuart University, Australia. She works in the fields of biography, social history, and studies of women's lives.