Scan barcode
read_with_pinot's review against another edition
DNF. This sounded intriguing but it’s beyond me at the moment because of the writing style and cos I am unfamiliar with and I guess not that interested in that period of history. I may try again.
sabsey's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars.
I picked up this book expecting to read a fictionalised version of Joan of Arc, but I was extremely surprised when this turned not just into historical fiction but historical romance, focusing on Joan's romantic relationship between another woman, Pieronne, and the struggle to accept hersef for loving women (it's always exciting when something you didn't expect to. The interplay between Joan struggling with her feelings for women against her faith (which is one of the defining elements of the Joan of Arc narrative as we know it) felt like it had more potential - something about the way Joan's character was portrayed felt sloppy; the narrator tended to mythologise Joan rather than humanise her more often than not, and the fact of her loving women seemed as though it was added in as an attempt to build her as a tragic hero, which made me very, very uncomfortable.
The writing was the strongest part of the novel - the narrator tried to fit the fictionalised parts with the historical as much as possible, and constantly interwove facts and historical records amongst the story as a whole.
I have mixed feelings about this book, it was a very strange, but very well written novel that felt like it had more potential than it did, especially when it came to the character arc of Joan herself.
I picked up this book expecting to read a fictionalised version of Joan of Arc, but I was extremely surprised when this turned not just into historical fiction but historical romance, focusing on Joan's romantic relationship between another woman, Pieronne, and the struggle to accept hersef for loving women (it's always exciting when something you didn't expect to. The interplay between Joan struggling with her feelings for women against her faith (which is one of the defining elements of the Joan of Arc narrative as we know it) felt like it had more potential - something about the way Joan's character was portrayed felt sloppy; the narrator tended to mythologise Joan rather than humanise her more often than not, and the fact of her loving women seemed as though it was added in as an attempt to build her as a tragic hero, which made me very, very uncomfortable.
The writing was the strongest part of the novel - the narrator tried to fit the fictionalised parts with the historical as much as possible, and constantly interwove facts and historical records amongst the story as a whole.
I have mixed feelings about this book, it was a very strange, but very well written novel that felt like it had more potential than it did, especially when it came to the character arc of Joan herself.
gretchen3's review against another edition
5.0
I found out about this book through another friend, and she was very enthusiastic about it. Considering how many times the story of Joan of Arc has been told, this one went out on a limb style and with the idea. The author has written poetry previously, and the style reflected that - short sharp, incomplete sentences, shifting point of view - from a omnipotent narrator, to first person from Joan, and addressing the reader directly. And the sheer idea of looking at Joan's story and imagining that she was a woman loving woman who had been promised that suffering through the war would lead her to the woman that God wanted her to love. As a queer woman who struggles with my faith and sexuality, this story was so very important. I was moved towards tears more than once, as Joan's story ended the same way, but with the promise that she would meet God, her Voices and her love in heaven. The style may not be for everyone, but once you adjust to it, it is beautiful.
More...