A TALE OF TWO MAIDENS

In the first in a series of novels set during medieval times, a teenager bears witness to the life and death of Joan of Arc.

Echols tells a tale set in 1429 that both humanizes “Jeanne the Maid” and introduces Felise, a fictional 15-year-old girlin northern France whose life becomes caught up in the Hundred Years’ War. Felise is an apprentice scribe who runs away from home in 1429 when faced with the possibility of an unwanted arranged marriage and the threat of being sold into slavery, due to her absent merchant father’s debts. Inspired by stories she’s heard of Jeanne d’Arc, she dresses as a boy and sneaks out of the town of Troyes. She’s helped by Jeanne herself, who, after her victory at Orléans against the English is trying to get the Dauphin, Charles, crowned king of France. Felise hides from her pursuers, follows Jeanne and her army, and eventually takes a position helping the army’s doctors; she also learns something unexpected about her father. Along the way, Felise witnesses the coronation of Charles VII at Reims and even falls in love. In this series-starter that takes place over less than a year, Echols dramatically introduces the feisty and noble Felise. Along the way, she places her protagonist in positions to witness important events in a plausible manner and effectively demonstrates the dangers that women faced at the time. She presents the story, however, as a sort of chronicle from Felise’s perspective: “I had loved everything about being a scribe, from sharpening my quill to filling the inkhorns and above all copying books with my own hand.” This is consistent with her apprenticeship, to be sure, but it limits readers’ ability to get to know other characters, who are portrayed relatively flatly. Echols herself is far more concerned with recording what happened than she is in offering a more thorough exploration of the era, which might have made the work more engaging.

A measured but underdeveloped historical novel of love and war.