I was so excited to read this novel due to my fascination with Joan of Arc. I knew going in that this was historical fiction, however I did not anticipate how much it would focus on the fiction of Joan's life. While the novel documented the events leading up to her death, it didn't focus on the core of Joan's character - her relationship with God, and the voices she heard. While I understand that this had to be a digestible read, and religion can be a difficult subject, it was so important to Joan and it was upsetting not to see this portrayed here.

I found this story to be compelling and I learned so much about Joan.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This historical novel is very fast paced, well researched and very compelling. This is well written. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

The most interesting part of the story of Joan of Arc, to me, has always been the question of whether she was truly a holy woman who saw visions and received military assignments from God or whether she just THOUGHT those things happened to her. This book takes all of that out and has the supernatural aspects of her life be pure fabrications by those around her who wanted the people to believe in her power and abilities. Joan is just a big, strong, traumatized young woman who is gifted with a great military mind, but wants the endless war with England and French rebels to be over. It was a new way to think about Joan's life and I enjoyed the book - it was well-written and very touching at times - but I'll admit I missed the spiritual parts of the traditional legend.

I loved this book. It turned me from someone who is generally disinterested in Joan of Arc into an admirer... and an enormous fan of its author, Katherine J Chen. I had the honor of interviewing Katherine about "Joan' for my podcast Storytime in Paris. Here is what I said:

My guest this week is award-winning author Katherine J. Chen. Katherine’s work has been published in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Literary Hub, among others. Katherine is drawn to stories about powerful women and her latest novel, “Joan: a Novel of Joan of Arc,” is no exception. But this Joan is not the Joan you think you know. This is no meek marytr. Katherine’s Joan is strong and powerful, filled with rage, prone to hubris, and shaped by a relationship to God that many have called controversial.

From the moment I read this book, months ago, I knew I needed to speak with its creator. In our conversation, Katherine shares why she was draw to tell a story that’s been told before in a way no one’s ever told it, and so much more. Then, she treats us to a reading of “Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc.”


Listen to the podcast on parisundergroundradio.com/storytimeinparis
Or anywhere you listen to podcasts

Joan of Arc is not someone about whom I have read a lot of nonfiction or historical fiction, though I am familiar with the basic legend. This book was a very interesting interpretation of Joan's possible circumstances that led to her role as a warrior and her ultimate demise. The author explains her inspiration in the note at the end. This storyline feels absolutely plausible.
The author made Joan a real person who I could relate to. Character development of Joan, her father and the king were excellent. I could feel the tension in all of these relationships. The author omitted the typical detailed and often gory medieval battle scenes one might expect in this type of historical fiction. I did not miss them at all. This is a story about Joan and how she may have come to be the person of legend rather than a fictionalized account of war.
Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, particularly from the medieval period.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to love this book.
Joan of Arc is one of the historical figures I have been wanting to read more of because she's one of those powerful strong women in history.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc.

I should have read the premise more carefully.

Joan of Arc is one of my favorite saints; her faith, courage and strength is the embodiment of a strong, faithful, and powerful woman ahead of her time.

In the afterword, the author explains she wrote a fictionalized portrait of Joan of Arc to fit modern times.

Personally, I think this is difficult to do; writing a novel based on a famous historical character that isn't inspired and based on the person's true life and what he or she has achieved seems to undermine their accomplishments.

Why write a modernized, fictionalized tale of a historical figure when the facts are already there?

It makes reading the book feel like a waste of time.

The author's Joan of Arc is a feisty, temperamental child who grows to be a massive size. I'm not sure if the author does this on purpose so the soldiers she commands will take her more seriously if her stature and skills resemble a man's.

Joan is a survivor, having grown a thick skin after suffering physical abuse at the hands of her father. She seeks solace with her beautiful sister, Catherine, and an uncle she adores.

These people are the ones she thinks and cares about, including a young boy who is killed in a playground battle when Joan is 10.

Joan is not religious or does she have visions. Her family and the locals talk of God like he's a bully. Their God is angry, volatile and enjoys punishing the sinful (and everyone else just for the heck of it).

Joan doesn't pray; when she does pray to God it's only because she wants something; not out of loyalty or faithfulness, but because she wants:

Revenge for the rape of her sister
Revenge for the English soldiers who ransacked her village
Revenge for her family being torn apart after the death of her sister

Joan is a French medieval version of Arya Stark; she's compiled a hit list of men in her head and recites it faithfully to give her strength and endurance as she pursues her goal of avenging her sister.

The novel is slow, especially when the narrative is focused on her childhood years. Her obsession on the young boy who died Guillaume is a repetitive sore point Joan thinks about often. Too often.

Overall, the narrative is slow, as the author shows how Joan learns to fight brushing up on her sword skills, and then she meets the Dauphin.

Knowing how the scenes with the Dauphin are contrived made it difficult to care about the conversation between him and Joan,.

I hate politics now and the US is a 'democracy'.' It's hard to care about what happened between France and the English 500 years ago.

I understand the author wanted to write a more flawed, relatable character in her Joan, but I didn't like her Joan.

She's indifferent and haughty, like she knows she's better than everyone around her, including the men she commands. That's a very unlikable character trait, I don't care who you are.

There's no heart and faith in this novel or in Joan.

The writing is good, but wordy, almost too wordy; too descriptive, too verbose, too much, as if the author is purposely drawing out certain scenes, like when Joan watches a blacksmith work at a local fair and how she's entranced by the helmet he's crafting.

The real Joan of Arc, whether you believe in her visions or not, was a revolutionary young woman, not just because of her devotion to her faith and God, but her strength and perseverance is a testament to anyone, regardless of gender, to forge ahead, ignore the naysayers and break down barriers wherever you go.

The Joan in this book just wants revenge, and though I've got nothing against vengeance, she is a grown woman who has never escaped the hate of her father so she's never learned to like or love herself.

I have been obsessed with Joan of Arc since I saw Leelee Sobieski bring her to life on the small screen. Being a reader I was over the moon to find out that there was a new book based on this remarkable young woman, I was absolutely here for it!

Katherine J. Chen's rendition of Joan's tale was different than others. Especially when it comes to the relationship between here and her father, her sister, and her motivations for participating in the war. The majority of the material I have consumed about Joan's life focuses on Joan the Warrior, not so much on Joan the child, Joan the daughter, Joan the sister. While this telling talks about the Warrior Joan, the primary focus is her life, and her pre Joan of Arc history wrapping during battle time, but not diving into her trial.

For any Joan of Arc fan, this is a , though readers with triggers should be wary. Joan lived during war time France in the early 1400's, some violence is to be expected, and based on history sexual assault in wartime is also to be expected, Additional triggers I was not expecting were abuse, animal cruelty (graphically depicted)-both in war and at home.

While I would not recommend this book for people that do not have an interest in literature about Joan and this time period, I would recommend it to people interested, but proceed with caution if you have triggers, this one isn't for the faint of heart.

***I am a reader, a writer, and a book collector. My physical bookshelf is full of books that I picked up solely because the cover spoke to me (some have been read, others have not) and books that I read digitally, audibly, or checked out from the library/borrowed from a friend and I loved them or their cover so much that it needed a place on my shelf. Had I not been interested in/known who Joan of Arc was, I would have passed this one up (I am in the US). However if it was the UK version I would have immediately picked it up and most likely purchased it based on the synopsis, may or may not have read it until doing some research into Joan of Arc, but It would have a place on my shelf. As it is, the opinion question of if you would purchase a copy, absolutely-if I can find the UK version.

I have always been fascinated with Joan of ARC. I am so glad to have finally found a book that has given her the story she deserved!
A young woman,that's strong,determined, and willing to help her king and country in any way! Highly recommend this book!

I didn't know much about Joan of Arc, to be honest, so it was fun to learn more about her life through this book. It's important to note this is one author's interpretation of her life, and maybe not one everyone would agree with, but it was one I found intriguing and interesting. I found it to be slower paced than a story like Circe, which I admit for reasons unknown to me, I kind of expected this to be like. Because the story took so long to hook me, and for the relative slowness to it, I'd give it 3.5 stars. If you like historical fiction, this is a book worth exploring.

The story of Joan of Arc is one of my all-time favorites. Women and their contributions to history can often be overlooked, which makes Joan's story feel special. Whenever books become available about her life, I always jump on the chance to read them. Reading Chen's novel about Joan met all of my expectations.

As the reader, you experience new facets of Joan's character. Chen was able to portray Joan in a way that felt real, whereas other authors will focus on making her seem more saintly and less human. The book starts when Joan is about 10 years old. You move through her early life and learn about her struggles with her father. As the story unfolds, you watch Joan develop into someone determined, fearless, and strong.

Katherine Chen did a remarkable job at honoring Joan for the leader and feminist that she was. This book was both refreshing and a joy to read.

A fictional story based on Joan of Arc, her life and battles for France. I liked the story, but it wasn’t the book I thought it was going to be. I didn’t know it was fictional until I started to read it, then realized. But it was okay for me. It was a good fictional based story of her.

Did I like this book? No, I loved this book! I couldn't put the book down!

In all honesty, I did not know much about Joan of Arc before reading this book (know it's historical fiction). From what I got from the book, she showed great determination, courage and belief in herself throughout. the descriptions scream these to me. And from what was said about her family, all of the above was surprising.

When it comes the book as a whole - it all flows. From all that was written, I could picture everything in my head and see it as a movie. I have read very few books of which I can say this. I did not want this book to end.

I highly recommend this book! I'm glad I read it!

(Writing this review was very delayed - Ironically, I actually finished reading the book on the anniversary of Joan of Arc's burning/death.)

This story was great! I loved the historical aspect, and I really appreciate all the research that went into writing this! It's a great story, and it was written really well!

A retelling of Joan of Arc’s life story, this moves at a laconic pace for about 80% of the book and then rushes to the end with several critical events happening in rapid succession. The book ends with Joan’s capture, which left me disappointed because I wanted to read about what happened next. I didn’t know much detail about her life before this book, and it was definitely eye opening.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Well-written and richly detailed, this fictional retelling of the life of Joan of Arc strives to provide a motivation for Joan's zeal that is not spiritual. Instead, Joan's actions spring from the resilience and resistance she learned in her early years when she was abused by her father and from her love for her sister and Joan's desire to avenge her sister's rape at that hands of the English. As Chen writes in the book's Afterword, "the Joan who appears in these pages is a Joan intensely personal to me.... I had to take many liberties with Joan's history and with the history of the time to make Joan's journey relatable."

Many will find that Chen's novel accomplishes that, but for me, this secular retelling is jarringly ahistorical. Although Chen imagines the past in rich detail, she fails to imagine an earlier world in which religious beliefs are central in giving life meaning and purpose.

Hey! 👋🏻 It’s me over here trying to make my way through my Netgalley reads, including backlog. Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for the eARC of Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc. This book released on July 5.

Let’s talk female role models. Back in Joan’s time there weren’t very many. Like, at all. So, I was curious to read Chen’s historical fiction novel about Joan of Arc. Chen takes her own spin on how she thinks Joan would have been. I appreciated how, in her afterword, Chen describes how Joan is typically described as this holy figure who didn’t actually fight or kill anyone.

The Joan of this novel is an abused child who rose above it and became a strong woman. Noble, feisty and ever loyal to France. Joan grows up tall and extremely physically strong, so unusual for a woman that she draws the eyes of those closest to the king. From there her story unfolds.

While I enjoyed this one, it wasn’t a book I’ll be shouting about from the rooftops. I did love reading about this fantastic heroine from the past because I’m all about excellent female role models.

A sincere thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a digital ARC of this book.

This novel is a revelation. Seriously one of the best books I've read all year. I feel bereft that I've finished it. The prose really feels spiritual. The craft choices Chen makes in the POV (which feels simultaneously so individual but also historic, collective, and communal) is just impeccable.

This is one of the books I will be sad not to have the opportunity to read again for the first time. All the stars.

You might think Joan of Arc’s tale has been told enough times, but this detailed, lived-in portrait puts the legendary historical figure firmly into her own time and place, imagining the martyred saint as a fierce, funny, resourceful giant of a teen whose escape from her abusive father lands her in the midst of the corrupt political world of France near the end of the Hundred Years’ War.

Life in Domrémy in 1422 is rich but complex; far from being simple peasants, the citizens are politically astute and upwardly mobile in spite of periodic attacks by the allied forces of England and Burgundy. The disaster of Agincourt is recent, and Joan is raised to despise the memory of English King Henry and revere the efforts of the Dauphin of France to reclaim his throne. A tragic ending to a mock-battle between the children of neighboring villages inspires 10-year-old Joan to use her talent for fixing what is broken to benefit her entire community; as she grows into her remarkable size, strength, and charisma, she catches the attention of the jaded aristocrats in exile who mistake her organizational genius for divine mystique. The reader almost forgets Joan’s tragic fate as we marvel at her ability to fix her mind on the goal of a unified France, while also possessing the practical ability to communicate with and inspire people from all walks of life.

Chen is interested in the human Joan, not the visionary, and the voice she creates for her is unforgettable: blunt, sarcastic, affectionate, and insightful. Her religious “voices” in this version are rendered as flashes of forward-thinking insight into potential military and political outcomes. This is the richest characterization of a historical figure I’ve encountered since Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall, and Chen’s achievement belongs in that august company.