AUTHOR: Donna Woolfolk Cross
STARTED: March 26, 2014
FINISHED: April 22, 2014
PAGES: 432
GENRE: Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: It was the twenty-eighth of Wintarmanoth in the year of our lord 814, the harshest winter in living memory.
SUMMARY: [From BN] For a thousand years her
existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die–Pope
Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to
become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in
this riveting novel, Donna Woolfolk Cross paints a sweeping portrait of
an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul
cannot accept. Brilliant and talented, young
Joan rebels against medieval social strictures forbidding women to
learn. When her brother is brutally killed during a Viking attack, Joan
takes up his cloak–and his identity–and enters the monastery of Fulda.
As Brother John Anglicus, Joan distinguishes herself as a great scholar
and healer. Eventually, she is drawn to Rome, where she becomes enmeshed
in a dangerous web of love, passion, and politics. Triumphing over
appalling odds, she finally attains the highest office in
Christendom–wielding a power greater than any woman before or since. But
such power always comes at a price...
THOUGHTS: This book has been sitting in my collection for years. It's so old I can't even tell you when I bought it. Back in March, I decided it was finally time to tackle this novel. I should have done so sooner. While the book is long, it reads quickly. The writing is well paced, the characters are fully developed, and there is enough drama to hold it all together.
Cross covers Joan's life from her birth to her death. Such a time span could get bogged down in unnecessary detail and description, but Cross chose to highlight the important developments and turning points in Joan's life. The plot flows seamlessly from each stage - Joan's character comes to her life as she matures. Her reactions and emotions feel real. It's hard not to root for her. Joan's journey is aided by a full cast of characters, all of whom feel fully imagined even if they are only in one scene.
The writing style of the book is incredibly cinematic. I can see exactly why a movie studio made a film of this. The hard work was done for them. Cross manages to set the scene in vivid details without info dumping.
My only gripe with this book is the romance. Yes, it is fully believable but I wish Cross had spent less time on it. Joan's life was so fascinating on its own that the romance felt almost unnecessary. I did root for the two leads, but I was rooting for Joan to succeed as a man much more.
You know you've read a good book when you want to track down more about the subject matter and see the movie adaptation.
RATING:8/10 [Terrific]
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