Pamela MarcantelBesprekingen

An amazing book about a more amazing woman! The legend sounds so simple, but the real story is very impressive...

What I liked: Oh, Everything!!!! Wowza! I couldn't put it down. I loved the author's writing, her interpretations of Jehanne the Maid's (aka Joan of Arc) Voices, the characters and description, the research that went into it... She took a true story and wove the fiction so expertly that you feel you know Jehanne intimately and you can't believe she is going to be burned at the stake. I wondered how an illiterate peasant could have persuaded the king to give her an army and this book shares a story that is absolutely believable!

The BEST part of the book is it's proclamation and steadfastness of faith in Jesus. Through the character, Jehanne, we see her faith and courage. We see her grow into the person God calls her to be. I did not expect this to be a book that would strengthen my own faith, but it has! It encourages me to have courage and do what God has called me to do. No matter your station or situation in life, you can do great things through God.

What I didn't like: One thing at the end of the book that the author believes might have happened (can't tell you or it'd be a spoiler)-- it is fiction, therefore the author can write what she likes, but I choose not to believe that that particular part happened.

A semi-fictional tale of Joan of Arc. Not bad - from telling what happened. But not very good at telling why it happened. It just too the position that the English were wrong and that God had given France to Charles VI and that was that. God decided that Joan should suffer for 2 years before she was killed - but no mention as to why this was ncessary. Just that it was. Disappointing that the author did not choose to take a position, one way or the other.

I expected to like this book, but it just did not resonate. I think the main problem was that I did not really like Joan.½

To anyone familiar with the Joan of Arc story, An Army of Angels is a refreshing fictionalization. Not intended to be a scholarly or even non-fictional piece, the novel follows Jehanne the Maid from her first vision to her death by burning. Unlike a traditional hagiography (biography of a saint), An Army of Angels attempts to portray its heroine as a human being, with very human flaws.
Marcantel’s Jehanne is a temperamental, often immature young woman whose spiritual experiences bring her into the company of kings and mystics alike. Her impatience leads her into quite a bit of trouble, including a failed escape attempt after her capture at Reimes.
From my own research, I’ve seen that many of the events in the book are historically accurate. The battles described did occur, and the description of Jehanne’s trial could have been taken directly from the transcripts, which still survive. Although I do not know whether or not Joan of Arc actually held and used the weapon described, it seems to be a detail which could easily be true. In the book, Jehanne is seen practicing with a lance and using a sword in battle, something which I am fairly certain never happened.
An Army of Angels captured my attention from the first to the last, but it was mainly Marcantel’s interpretation of the historical details and people which I found fascinating. Her characterization of Jehanne leaves something to be desired, and her depiction of Jehanne’s temper is especially unconvincing. That Joan of Arc had a temper is a believable concept– that she displayed it as Jehanne does is not. Oddly, the characterization of secondary characters was far more impressive, and no one reading this book will forget Jehanne’s small circle of friends and family.
One cannot write about Joan of Arc without somehow dealing with her “voices from God”—her Council. In her Author’s Note, Marcantel states that she set out to make those voices into characters. I don’t believe this was really accomplished, as many of Jehanne’s conversations with her Council were not narrated, and were only related through her conversations with other people. Although Marcantel may have been trying to preserve historical accuracy, she could have taken more liberties with the personification of Jehanne’s Council in this fictional work. By the end of the book, however, I genuinely cared for Jehanne’s voices, because Jehanne herself cared for them. Had Jehanne been a stronger character herself, the voices would have correspondingly been more believable.
Overall, a good read for lovers of historical fiction, and a much-needed addition to the available material on Joan of Arc.