Review 339: Joan

Joan by Katherine J. Chen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a retelling of Joan d’Arc/Joan of Arc from the 15th century during the English and French war. One might say a story inspired by the real person.

Instead of this historical girl who was visited by angels and spiritual visions, we have a girl who is beaten by her father nearly daily. Jacque d’Arc curses and wishes she were never born, her only crime not being a boy when she was born. He had lost a bet on that, and now will never forgive her.

Joan learns how to take the beatings, she learns how to fend for herself, living off scrapes of food, or sleeping in the forest to escape more brutal beatings. This childhood taught her the strength and fortitude to go to battle against the English in the name of taking back France and give the crown to its rightful King.

The God Joan talks to isn’t the saintly spiritual type one may expect. She demands things of God, or tell God what will happen. How Joan becomes super strong and accurate and seemingly well trained as a soldier does appear to be miracles granted by God.

The general outline of the book, once Joan leaves her family village, somewhat follows the true story of the historical Joan, but it still has much fiction within.

Going into this book expecting a realistic fictional account of Joan will lead to frustration. I admit I kept thinking of what I knew of her story and expecting this to come up in the book, but that made me not fully appreciate the story we have here. It is a well-written story that I got wrapped up into.

I listened to the book and the narration was pleasing to listen to, a good way to read this story.