The Maid

Summary

It is the fifteenth century, and the tumultuous Hundred Years' War rages
on. France is under siege, English soldiers tear through the
countryside destroying all who cross their path, and Charles VII, the
uncrowned king, has neither the strength nor the will to rally his army.
And in the quiet of her parents' garden in Domrémy, a peasant girl sees
a spangle of light and hears a powerful voice speak her name. Jehanne.

The story of Jehanne d'Arc, the visionary and saint who believed she
had been chosen by God, who led an army and saved her country, has
captivated our imagination for centuries. But the story of Jehanne—the
girl—whose sister was murdered by the English, who sought an escape from
a violent father and a forced marriage, who taught herself to ride and
fight, and who somehow found the courage and tenacity to persuade first
one, then two, then thousands to follow her, is at once thrilling,
unexpected, and heartbreaking. Rich with unspoken love and battlefield
valor, The Maid is a novel about the power and uncertainty of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating consequences of fame.