This book will be published on March 26, 2019. I read an advance reading copy and there will undoubtedly be some differences between the version I read, and the published version.
I was pleasantly surprised this book was told in poetry. I picked it up because I had the, "OH SWEET! Joan of Arc!? Hollllllaaaa" kind of reaction. Plus, based on my experiences last year with really good poetry books such as POET X and LONG WAY DOWN, I was undeterred (yes, all the shameless links).
An amazon summary, "Bestselling author David Elliott explores how Joan of Arc changed the course of history and remains a figure of fascination centuries after her extraordinary life and death. Joan of Arc gets the Hamilton treatment in this evocative novel.
Told through medieval poetic forms and in the voices of the people and objects in Joan of Arc’s life, (including her family and even the trees, clothes, cows, and candles of her childhood), Voices offers an unforgettable perspective on an extraordinary young woman. Along the way it explores timely issues such as gender, misogyny, and the peril of speaking truth to power. Before Joan of Arc became a saint, she was a girl inspired. It is that girl we come to know in Voices." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
HOLD. THE. PHONE. Whoever wrote that amazon summary, compared this to Hamilton. Excuseeeeeeee youuuuuuuuuuu?!?!?! No no no. Joan did not get that treatment, and no one will ever create a fabulous musical based off of this book. Joan's story, probably yes; this book? Not so much. Let me explain why.
If you're unfamiliar with Joan of Arc, here is a suuuuper brief, oversimplified history lesson. She was a farm girl who had visions of saints who beseeched her to return the rightful king to the throne of France. Once the king was crowned, Joan suffered a defeat on the fronts, and was put on trial...where they burned her for her 'crimes'. ...grossly oversimplified but yeah, let's roll with it.
This book is a book of poems about Joan, about the people surrounding Joan, and of the objects surrounding Joan. It really reminded me of the style of October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, which is done really well and makes you cry and all of these wonderful things that emotionally connect you directly to the heart of the story.
...this book told the story of Joan, but it was frankly hard to digest. Not in the sense of the subject matter, portrayal of events, etc; but the poetry was not written in an interesting manner. Plus, when there were poems from different objects, sometimes the poems were in the shape of the object? Which is visually cool, but some of them were WAY more effort to read than what it was worth. I also took issue that a lot of the poems had the same tone/voice to them except for Joan's, even though they were supposed to be done by different people and objects.
This book also didn't offer me any new insight or compassion for Joan's story. It kind of tried to a couple times, but it just didn't bring anything new or interesting to Joan's story. This is the kind of book where you go, "Hey, I like poems and know nothing about Joan or Arc, I'll give it a try. *reads* Alright, I guess I know something about Joan of Arc now." Very just, subdued reactions would be had. ...which is fine if that's what you want.
Happy reading!
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