Reviewed by BARBARA BECKWITH, retired managing editor and book review editor of this publication. She is the author of A Retreat With Joan of Arc, published by St. Anthony Messenger Press.

UNLIKE MANY recent books about Joan of Arc, this one is not out to make a political point.

Here, Joan is not a flaming feminist or a pious maiden, not a lesbian or a nutcase, but a struggling 17-year-old trying to fulfill what her “voices” told her she must do. She is “mission-driven” in a fundamental way.

Her mission was nothing less than liberating France from the invading English during the Hundred Years’ War, which had already been going on for 80 years.

This novel is that rare accomplishment, a combination of literary finesse and scrupulous scholarship. Cutter has a master’s of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Virginia. Now a Brooklyn, N.Y., resident, she has also written for Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, New York, Men’s Vogue and Marie Claire. This is her first novel.

It is told from Joan’s viewpoint and, therefore, accepts that the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret that inspired, instructed and comforted her were real. It concentrates on Joan’s emotions.

One of the issues the novel confronts is Joan’s virginity, a countercultural value today, which was viewed differently in her day.

Cutter imagines a scene where, en route to gain the dauphin’s support, Joan is tempted by lying next to one of her supporters, Jean Metz.

She realizes he is having an erection and for a moment enjoys the sensation, but then she tells him to go no further because if he does, “It will be the end of everything. Do you hear me?” And he says he does hear her and “stopped looking at her with lustful eyes.”

Shortly after that, the other men, too, were impressed by her mysticism and dedication. They realized she was different from other women they knew. (Her own father and brothers thought she had simply
become a camp follower.)

Her supporters understood that she was sent by God and that she was going to save France. Their faith in her led to their impossible victories in the field.

Cutter’s prose is glorious. One example is after St. Michael warns Joan that she will die within two years: “Eventually, when she was worn out from crying, when the sobs had stopped and she lay exhausted and calm on the riverbank, a voice rose up inside of her. ‘Of course. Death. Did you think you were going to get out of this alive?

“‘Oh, but knowing,’ Jehanne thought. ‘Knowing is different. Knowing changes everything.’”

This book paints the characters who conspired in her death, especially the weak-chinned, mealy-mouthed Charles VII. Crowned king of France through her efforts, he leaves her unransomed after she falls into enemy hands. (Other books about Joan blame her death primarily on the proud and scholarly Bishop Pierre Cauchon and his vigorous prosecution of her.)

This is the 600th year of Joan of Arc’s birth (the exact date of her birth is unknown), and her feast day (the day she died) is May 30.

This book is an excellent introduction to Joan that explores her from the inside out.