Looking for a good book about Joan of Arc

Manda Scott · Post by **Manda Scott** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 3:39 pm

I remember reading in Vita Sackville-West's biography that she'd written a novel of Joan of Arc - probably pre-war, but I can't quite remember

has anyone read it? Or even heard of it?

manda

Manda Scott · Post by **Manda Scott** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 3:42 pm

[quote=""Divia""]
But really, enough with the Tudor stuff. I haven't read a Tudor book in about a year, and it feels great!
[/quote]

I would have thought that until I read Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall' and found myself *desperate* for the sequel - and realised that there's always room for a well written, utterly engaging book, whatever the era.

there are too many poor books set in Tudor times, but surprisingly few truly great ones - and 'Wolf Hall' is, in my opinion, one of the greatest literary works of the current century.

manda

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 4:42 pm

[quote=""Manda Scott""]I would have thought that until I read Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall' and found myself *desperate* for the sequel - and realised that there's always room for a well written, utterly engaging book, whatever the era.

there are too many poor books set in Tudor times, but surprisingly few truly great ones - and 'Wolf Hall' is, in my opinion, one of the greatest literary works of the current century.

manda[/quote]

That really is the problem, most of what comes out these days is so Tudor 90210 as one of my friends at Paperbackswap says. I want more than that.

TeralynPilgrim · Post by **TeralynPilgrim** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 5:41 pm

[quote=""jessicajames""]If you're still looking for a Joan of Arc book - Mark Twain's really is by far the best. It was taken from actual transcripts of the trial so is very accurate historical fiction.[/quote]

No kidding? That was on the top of my "to read" list, but I didn't realize that about it. It sounds good!

Diva: Wow, thanks for the list! That's exactly what I was looking for.

Soapbox here: Why does every book have to have a romance in it to be exciting? Is it not enough that Joan of Arc involves miracles, war, torture, and death? For crying out loud, a teenager won one of the biggest wars in history. Everyone loves hearing her story.

But she's a virgin, so... meh, not cool enough. Let's move on to yet another story of a spoiled rich queen who does nothing but fall in love and give it our stamp of approval.

annis · Post by **annis** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 6:14 pm

Manda, Vita Sackville-West did write a book about Joan, called Saint Joan of Arc, but it is a biography rather than a novel.

It was also quite controversial. Interestingly, given recent discussions on writers of popular historical non-fiction who veer into imaginative realms, Sackville-West was heavily criticized on this point when her biography was published in 1936. Historians attacked her for using too much in the way of speculation and imaginative leaps in her book.

Sackville-West herself said:
"Deeply and rightly as one mistrusts the historian who draws too freely on his imagination to fill in the details of the cold outline provided by official documents, there are occasions when it becomes only reasonable for him to do so."

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 7:20 pm

[quote=""TeralynPilgrim""]Soapbox here: Why does every book have to have a romance in it to be exciting? Is it not enough that Joan of Arc involves miracles, war, torture, and death? For crying out loud, a teenager won one of the biggest wars in history. Everyone loves hearing her story.

But she's a virgin, so... meh, not cool enough. Let's move on to yet another story of a spoiled rich queen who does nothing but fall in love and give it our stamp of approval.[/quote]

I personally feel that is the reason, though I could be wrong. Its a hard sell, as I noted before. She was a virgin, very religious and prayed a lot. Fasted, had no boyfriend and well people like to read about the naughty side of history.

Now, Joan did have a temper. She wanted things done yesterday and if you disagreed with her she'd let you have it. Everyone thinks she is perfectly saintly but she wasn't.

TeralynPilgrim · Post by **TeralynPilgrim** » Tue July 19th, 2011, 7:26 pm

[quote=""Divia""]Now, Joan did have a temper. She wanted things done yesterday and if you disagreed with her she'd let you have it. Everyone thinks she is perfectly saintly but she wasn't.

[/quote]

See? That's good drama. I would have a lot of fun reading about a saint with an attitude.

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Wed July 20th, 2011, 12:23 am

[quote=""TeralynPilgrim""]See? That's good drama. I would have a lot of fun reading about a saint with an attitude.[/quote]

And that she did have. She said she would last " a year, maybe a little more." so she was always moving like there was a fire under her. Odd choice of words... but anyway, she disagreed with the men around her, and wanted to move move move.

Laura · Post by **Laura** » Wed July 20th, 2011, 1:17 am

I Just found another book at Goodreads: An Army of Angels: A Novel of Joan of Arc by Pamela Marcantel. Sounds interesting.

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed July 20th, 2011, 2:25 am

Many of the saints have had a reputation for being annoyingly forceful, even if charismatic characters. They didn't get things done up sitting around smiling sweetly!