I???m familiar with Saint Joan of Arc, mostly thanks to a Catholic school education and a general curiosity about the lives of these people whom the Church seemed to think were pretty damn important, if they were powerful enough to bend God???s ear on behalf of us mere mortals. Like most Catholics I???m familiar with the general outline of her life story: how as a girl she had visions encouraging her to save France; how she spoke to the Dauphin and convinced him to give her an army; how she succeeded in battle until she didn???t; and then was burnt at the stake by the English for heresy. However, the memory of her victories continued to live in the memory of the French people (not least because her achievements were crucial to France winning the Hundred Years??? War), and almost five hundred years after her execution she???d be canonized as a saint, thus cementing her legendary status.
It???s a good story - a VERY good story. It???s why Joan is one of the most memorable saints in the Church???s immense roster, and why even non-religious folk know who she is and the general outline of her life and eventual death. It also helps that there are PLENTY of fictionalized depictions of her, both in print and in film, and there are almost as many non-fictional accounts of her life too. If you want to go down a rabbit hole of everything Saint Joan, you can easily do that and get lost down there for a good long while.
So: with all of these books and movies already out there, many of which are considered to be quite good, what makes Chen???s novel, in particular, stand out? Personally, I think it???s that her take on Joan is, firstly, very human, and secondly, there???s little of the divine to be seen anywhere in this story. Those two things are tied together: throughout the novel Joan???s perspective on her achievements is that SHE has accomplished them, no one else. Oh, sure, she???s aware that her talents are likely God-given, (and there???s a brief moment in the novel where she contemplates God taking those talents away and gets really scared), but more in the manner of a seed being planted in her - a seed that was nurtured under the abusive hand of her father Jacques d???Arc, and which she then found use for as she grew older.
This doesn???t mean she???s an atheist, of course, nor even an agnostic. No: Joan believes in God, but her relationship with God is different. Instead of begging and pleading to him when she prays, she bargains with him. There???s a couple scenes in the novel where she talks about how her prayers to God go, and it???s generally her talking about all these things she has done and wants to do, and then telling God ???So: what do you think? Maybe we can help each other out here.??? This is very different from the other depictions of Joan that I???ve seen, which have portrayed her as completely devoted to God and moving only as he (through her visions) commands her to.
Speaking of visions: there???s none of that to be seen here. Oh sure, Joan has dreams, but not the visions (or hallucinations) of the saints that a lot of material out there says she had. Instead, Joan???s motivations are entirely - and heartbreakingly - human. I won???t go into the details because that way lie spoilers, but suffice to say that what gets Joan out of her home and to the court of the Dauphin has very, VERY little to do with divine inspiration, but A LOT MORE to do with entirely human (and, therefore, probably more relatable) motivations.
But that raises the question: where DID all those stories of visions and divine inspiration come from in the first place? In Chen???s novel, those are all part of a propaganda push, orchestrated by certain members of the Dauphin???s court, in order to get the Dauphin off his butt and moving in fighting back against the English and the Burgundians, and then later, after her initial victories, rumors and stories concocted by people who had encountered her and were looking for something hopeful to hang onto in the face of the despair and tragedy of the war. Again I won???t get into that too much because spoilers, but it soon becomes clear to the reader that in the novel, the legend of Joan was something other people created, and that she herself didn???t have much to do with its creation except through her actions - actions which were then taken by others and spun this way and that for their own purposes. In the novel, Joan is entirely aware of these stories, and how she deals with them is interesting to read about too. Interesting, too, is how she is aware she is being used, but decides to take that in stride and find her own way of using others in turn to achieve her own ends.
Overall, this is a very good read, largely because I like this take on Joan: not a saint, and not a madwoman, but someone thoroughly human, who wanted to do what she could with what she had - and accomplished a great deal, even as she went against the grain of what was expected of her as a woman. However, just as her own motivations and desires were entirely human, so too were the challenges that stood in her way - and while some she could overcome, there were more that she could not, like systemic misogyny and political maneuvering. Despite knowing the end of her story even before the novel begins, reading about this particular take on a familiar figure was quite fun, and I think other people will enjoy it too.
