Joan of Arc

August 18, 2014
Joan of Arc was the subject of rumors and legends even in her own time, and from the 15th century onward her experience has been appropriated according to the needs of the age and artist. Novelist and memoirist Harrison (Enchantments) makes Joan’s story almost surreal as it’s untethered from time or context. Harrison compares Joan to Jesus: “Where no tangible historical records or artifacts provide a counterweight to the pull of a narrative tradition shaped by faith, the historical truth of a life like Joan’s or Jesus’s gives way to religious truth.” But it is never clear whose truth is being discussed. Harrison relays the events of Joan’s life by quoting other interpreters such as George Bernard Shaw, Jean Anouilh, Cecil B. DeMille, and Luc Besson. Often it is implied that these are a reflection of Joan’s own reality. Harrison draws on previous biographies—and the records of her trial—for the established facts of the brief life and tragic execution of the Maid of Orléans. However, just as many, if not more, of Harrison’s citations refer to films or fictions, and a host more from other biographers. Too many other reported conversations are not cited at all. In the end, Harrison’s jumble of biography and hagiography falls between two stools.

August 1, 2014
The versatile Harrison (Enchantments, 2012, etc.)-novelist, biographer, memoirist and true-crime writer-becomes the most recent in a long list of authors to tell the story of the unusual warrior. Born in 1412 and executed just 19 years later, French peasant Joan of Arc began listening to the voices of angels at age 14 ("hers alone, a rapturous secret"). She did not suspect at first, nor did anybody else, that those angels wanted her to undertake a seemingly impossible task: to lead an army of Frenchmen into battle against the mighty enemy forces from across the channel in England. The tale of Joan of Arc has been told countless times, so why revisit it, especially when hard evidence is lacking? For starters, Harrison's editor suggested the topic. At that point, the author decided 21st century readers required a new narrative of a life so improbable and heroic. Harrison knew, of course, about the daunting list of previous interpreters, including William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht and Mark Twain. She wisely examines some of those previous interpretations, finding some of the speculation and historicism plausible but some of it wanting. Harrison examines Joan as a sexual being as well as a warrior and perhaps a schizophrenic. The sexuality angle becomes especially provocative when Harrison discusses how God may have favored Joan due to the virginity she advertised so boldly. The author recounts the battle scenes in sometimes-excruciating detail and gives plenty of space to her arrest, trial and execution. She also provides a chronology. The vivid stories of Joan's remarkable life never died completely, leading to her canonization as a saint in 1920. Harrison joins the psychobiography school of life writing, doing so with memorable writing and an energetic approach.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2014
The fact that a new biography of Joan of Arc is published every few years is testament to the fact that the story of the French peasant girl who led an army against British invaders, for the glory of God and country, never ceases to fascinate. As each succeeding generation reexamines Joan's life, the psychological spins increase, and in novelist Harrison's deft hands, the latest analysis is both vividly detailed and historically grounded. Casting a modern eye on a medieval legend, she is able to breathe new life into the girl, the warrior, the messenger from God, and the saint. Various intriguing angles, including Joan's sexuality, her feminism, and her possible schizophrenia, are scrutinized through a twenty-first-century lens. In addition to Joan's early years and her fiery path to battle, Harrison also includes Joan's trials, execution, and canonization in the compulsively readable narrative.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

September 15, 2014

Prolific novelist and biographer Harrison (Enchantments) has penned an engrossing narrative of the life and times of Joan of Arc (1412-31). Countless writers over the centuries have presented varying interpretations of the peasant girl who saved France, and this volume is no exception. Depicting Joan as a courageous heroine who defied the gender limits of her time, Harrison consciously and deliberately identifies characteristics of Joan with those of Jesus Christ. Defining "transfiguration" as an "unnatural brilliance associated with mystical experience," the author equates Joan's transfiguration with that of Christ and finds numerous parallels in their lives. Part biography, part medieval history, this is also a cultural and intellectual investigation of how Joan has been presented in poetry, drama, art, and film; references to these depictions are interspersed throughout the text. Creative use of dialog reconstructed from a variety of sources adds to the volume's readability. Even those familiar with the subject's story will find fascinating material here, as Harrison describes the layers of meaning attached to Joan's virginity, appearance, and asceticism. Details of her biography are placed in the context of Christian symbolism, medieval notions of proper womanhood, and contemporary prophecy and folklore. VERDICT For general readers interested in biographies of renowned figures. [See Prepub Alert, 4/7/14.]--Marie M. Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014

Best known for her pointedly vivid and feminist fiction and eye-opening memoirs, Harrison here offers a biography of Joan of Arc billed as "for our time." It certainly pays to ask whether the legend-shrouded Joan was inspired, insane, or perhaps a notable example of unshakable moral conviction.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.