Jill Fehleison's Boundaries of Faith: Catholics and Protestants in the Diocese of Geneva is a welcome addition to the historiography of religious reform in early modern Europe. Employing such primary sources as pastoral visitation records, laws, letters, charters, sermons, and synodal regulations, Fehleison addresses the successes and failures of the Catholic Reformation in the Catholic territories (including Chablais and Gex) around Geneva during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. She argues that the reform and reintroduction of Catholicism here impacted the beliefs and practices of the clergy and laity, all of whom negotiated sacred and secular space, religious identity and coexistence, and political and religious boundaries, whether they adopted or dismissed Catholicism. Indeed, Fehleison posits that inhabitants of the Diocese of Geneva did not always willingly accept Protestantism, preferring to remain Catholic or convert to the Roman faith. The author posits that the Catholic Reformation was considerably successful in the diocese, making inroads into the personal and private religious lives of many people. Fehleison's book is thus an innovative work on a much needed study, namely the role of Catholicism in the Diocese of Geneva, a city many historians have described primarily as a bastion of Protestantism.

Focusing on the careers of three prominent bishops in Geneva (Claude de Granier, François de Sales, and Jean-François de Sales), the author vividly describes how these Catholic reformers reintroduced the late medieval faith into the diocese during a time of political, religious, and military strife (among the competitors for Genevan territory were Savoy, Spain, Berne, and France). Visiting parishes, reformers set to work building and renovating churches, convents, and monasteries; educating priests in the reforms of Trent; funding confraternities; and holding processions, Masses, and other forms of Eucharistic devotion. The bishops also reinforced the study of the Catholic catechism among the laity. In these ways, post-Tridentine reforms became pervasive parts of the religious lives of both the clergy and laity in the Diocese of Geneva. Catholicism thrived in the diocese despite political and military conflicts and the pressures of the Protestant Reformation.

Fehleison's work has many strengths. Her study incorporates meticulous research in a detailed study of the dynamics of the Catholic Reformation in a specific location during a time of political, military, and religious strife. The discussion of political and military maneuvering in the areas in and around Geneva adds an important dimension to the work, proving that Catholicism could survive in the midst of political and military turmoil. Indeed, Fehleison views her book as adding to the historiography of local studies of religious warfare and coexistence. Moreover, Boundaries of Faith provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the passion and ambition with which Catholic bishops reintroduced Tridentine reforms as well as a deeper piety (expressed through traditional religious practices like the Mass) among the laity and clergy alike. Catholicism was a rich and fulfilling religion for many in the Diocese of Geneva. Fehleison admirably conveys the agency of these groups in negotiating and defining sacred and secular spaces as they took part in such Catholic festivities and sacraments as confraternity processions and the Mass respectively. Finally, the author eloquently raises questions of confessionalism in the Diocese of Geneva, for instance its significance in one's understanding of the Catholic Reformation in the cities.

However, Fehleison does leave several areas unexplored. For instance, there is hardly any discussion of John Calvin's interactions (if there were any) with Catholic reformers. This is an important question, considering the large Protestant population in Geneva and the central role Calvin (and his followers) played in Geneva. Fehleison also leaves one wondering about religious coexistence between Protestants and Catholics, although her study does not aim to address this in detail. Lastly, the monograph could benefit from a more inclusive description of the wars between Geneva and surrounding Catholic territories, for the progression and causes of military and political conflicts are often complicated to discern. Nevertheless, these are minor weaknesses in a laudable work on early modern Geneva. Fehleison has made an important contribution to the fields of early modern religious reform, confessional identity and agency, religious war, and the Catholic Reformation more broadly. Students of history as well as professional historians will benefit greatly from studying this work.