AUTHOR: Pamela Marcantel
STARTED: September 7, 2012
FINISHED: October 13, 2012
PAGES: 592
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: The long table was crowded end to end with the most inviting food she had ever seen.
SUMMARY: [From Barnes and Noble] The story is legend: the french
peasant maid Joan of Arc successfully leads an army against the English
and is burned at the stake before she turns twenty. Many have tried to
re-create her life, but none have succeeded more brilliantly than Pamela
Marcantel in this, her dazzling debut.
Here, in dramatic, richly
imagined detail, is the full story of the peasant Jhanette, who, at the
age of thirteen, is visited by St. Michel, and told she will be known to
history at Jehanne the Maid, the girl who would save France from the
English. Marcantel paints a fascinating portrait of medieval Europe—a
world in which an illiterate girl, chosen by God, can lead an army and
never turn back.
After more than five hundred years, Joan of Arc lives again in this hypnotic blend of history and storytelling.
Here, in dramatic, richly imagined detail, is
the full story of the peasant Jhanette, who at age 13 is visited by St.
Michel and told that she will be known to history as Jehanne the Main,
the girl who saves France from the English.THOUGHTS: It's been almost two month since I finished reading this book, and the last 50 pages are still in my mind. They were that powerful. If the rest of this book held up to those last 50 pages, this would be my top read of the year. Instead, the rest of the story was good, but not great.
I've always been fascinated by Joan of Arc. I find her to be an incredibly complex historical figure, and I believe that she has had a lasting impact on history, feminism, and culture. When I saw this book on the shelf I just had to take it home with me. Said book sat around my apartment for years, but I finally decided it was time to tackle it. Hooo, boy! Tiny print attack. The text size on the page was tiny and there were many, many, many pages of story. It was a long story...
Marcantel has crafted her character's story from childhood. She does not seem to leave out a single day of Joan's life (at least since she started hearing her voices). The plot and writing are rich with detail, character development, and emotion - but at times it felt like too much. This book is exhausting to read. There are so many names, battles, motivations, whathaveyou to keep track of that I wondered if I'd ever make it to the end. Yes, that amount of detail makes the story all the more compelling, but it felt like an editor was needed to cut out the superflous stuff. Joan is shown time and again acting frustrated, left out, impatient, and blessed by her god - but all of that detail would have been more impactful if it happened a little less. The author could have made the same point, but cut down a bit on the pages. I'm all for thick books, but this one felt a bit repetitive.
The secondary characters and settings are all incredibly well developed, but still pale in comparison to Joan. Joan is the star around which they orbit, and without her to set the scene, their details fall apart. It's hard for me to say if that was a deliberate move on the part of the author, if Marcantal was so focused on being historically accurate that she failed to "fill in the gaps" when her research ran thin.
The last pages are what made this book for me. You know how the story ends, so the sense of dread is built in - but the author uses that innate suspense to connect you to Joan during her captivity and, ultimately, her death. One scene is so brutal in its expression that I actually held back tears. I even had to put the book down and take a break before I could continue. That is good writing, but it was imminently helped by the subject matter.
This book is not something you tackle to read in a weekend. It's a thick story that does not skimp on plot or historical details. It's quite the door-stopper of a novel. Without read-a-thon, I'd still be reading this. It took ten hours of solid reading for me to finally complete the story. All in all, I'm glad I read this book... but I am also glad that I finished it.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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