Joan of Arc

A Life Transfigured

By: Kathryn Harrison

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

The profoundly inspiring and fully documented saga of Joan of Arc, the young peasant girl whose "voices" moved her to rally the French nation and a reluctant king against British invaders in 1428, has fascinated artistic figures as diverse as William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Voltaire, George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, Carl Dreyer, and Robert Bresson. Was she a divinely inspired saint? A schizophrenic? A demonically possessed heretic, as her persecutors and captors tried to prove?

Every era must retell and reimagine the Maid of Orleans's extraordinary story in its own way, and in Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured, the superb novelist and memoirist Kathryn Harrison gives us a Joan for our time—a shining exemplar of unshakable faith, extraordinary courage, and self-confidence during a brutally rigged ecclesiastical inquisition and in the face of her death by burning. Deftly weaving historical fact, myth, folklore, artistic representations, and centuries of scholarly and critical interpretation into a compelling narrative, she restores Joan of Arc to her rightful position as one of the greatest heroines in all of human history.

thanks for the history lesson

great book. answered all the questions I had about this incredible woman. very well performed

Where Biography and Legend Collide

A straightforward biography of the life and times of Joan of Arc would be interesting enough for me. But 600 years after she was born, the story of the Maid of Orleans has been repeatedly built up and torn down by every perspective imaginable and used to attack or defend any position of thought. This book walks us through each stage of Joan's mission step-by-step. At each step, we're given Joan's situation, the events of history as it played out, the growth of the legend, and the various interpretations of all of it by scholars, psychologists, and Hollywood. At each step, the historical Joan is presented more and more remarkable as a direct result, proving that (yet again) fact is stranger than fiction. In short, much like Joan herself, this book has done the impossible.

I've mentioned in other reviews of other books about Joan that I share the same weird fascination with her as did Mark Twain. I'm not Christian, I'm not French, I'm not likely to be associated with either faction, and yet... the story of Joan is one that just sucks me right in, assuming it's given a proper presentation. This book does that and so much more. Kathryn Harrison has created in my eyes the best telling of this story since Twain himself.

As narrator, Cassandra Campbell is a great choice. She has a soft strength to her voice characteristic of the subject matter, and she has a command of the French language that's essential to the story.

Fantastic description of the life of Joan of Arc.

Like a bridge between the rational and divine, her documented story of a Saint gives a glimpse of what divine contact with mortals may be like. You ride with Joan and feel the call of God upon her and realize if you had been there you may have joined her cause.

In Depth Story And Exceptional Performance

I always love this performer and seek books out with her. This is a very comprehensive and detailed book about Joan of Arc. I didn’t know much, other than childhood stories before I heard this. I’m so glad I did! The research is incredible and the sources are on point. It reads like an actually interesting grad school thesis.

A good and balanced biography

The life of an amazing young woman who commanded armies by age 19.
The records of her trial make plain the terrible travesty of justice she endured. Well researched , great narrator.