In this learned and thoughtful assessment of the works of Vittoria Colonna, Abigail Brundin undertakes two interrelated tasks; first to reestablish the literary achievements of this prominent exponent of Petrarchism and, second, to show how Colonna's poetry and prose works manifest the interests of reform-minded Italians of the sixteenth century. In both areas Brundin overturns earlier views of Colonna as a passive figure in relationship to her male colleagues. Colonna, in Brundin's assessment, creatively used the forms of Petrarchan sonnets ‘to embody a reformed religious programme’ (p. 11). Her careful analysis of Colonna's spiritual sonnets, in particular those collections dedicated to Michelangelo Buonarotti and Marguerite de Navarre, in the context of her relationships with prominent individuals committed to reform such as Reginald Pole, Marcantonio Flaminio and Bernardino Ochino, reveal the pervasive presence of a theology that was Christocentric and representative of a belief in salvation by faith. Equally remarkable is the theology found in Colonna's prose works focusing on role of the Virgin Mary. Here Brundin makes the argument that these represent a ‘reformed Mariology’ that presents Mary as a powerful model of discipleship and as a useable example for women of Colonna's own day. However, Colonna presents Mary not simply as intercessor in keeping with medieval piety but as one who in a certain respect is the cause of salvation as the bearer of Christ. In this she exceeds the honour given to Mary by medieval Christianity. The apparent inconsistency between a reformed Mariology and a Mary who stands as a mediatrix in the economy of salvation might be explored further as an example of the unresolved tensions in sixteenth-century theology, at least before the Council of Trent. This learned and thought-provoking study of Colonna will be of great value both to students of early modern literature and to those who seek a deeper understanding of the complex and paradoxical attitudes of sixteenth-century reformers.