A Tale of Two Maidens: A Medieval French Story of Fate, Adventure, and the Hundred Years’ War
The history of Jehanne la Pucelle, or Joan of Arc, is often told, but Echols has chosen a fresh perspective in her narrator, a brave apprentice scribe who follows The Maid’s fortunes across France during the two-year rebellion she led against the combined forces of Burgundy and England at the outset of the Hundred Years’ War. After the death of her beloved older sister, Felise struggles to hold on to her commitment to a life as a femme sole, a professional woman making her own way in the world. Her long-absent father’s shady business dealings leave her vulnerable to fortune hunters and extortionists, so she takes on a boy’s disguise and escapes to find shelter as a scribe to Joan and the Dauphin. Joan is rendered compellingly, as Felise’s own romantic illusions about the young visionary come up against the ruthlessness with which The Maid sacrifices men and women to her cause. Most of the remaining characters are thinly drawn, many of Felise’s adventures and escapes rely heavily on coincidence and luck, and her thoughts fit the mold a little too neatly of the “plucky” romantic heroine. However, Echols’ historical details are seamlessly worked into the narrative, and the pace carries the reader along in spite of the less-than-compelling inner lives of the characters.
