Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc

There have been a great many books written about Joan of Arc, but David Elliott has a very fresh take. First, the book is in verse. Elliott’s poetry is gorgeous, and he uses a wide variety of poetic forms, most of which were developed around the time Joan lived. He based the story on records from two trials — the Trial of Condemnation at which Joan was found guilty of “relapsed heresy” for which she was condemned to death by burning at the stake and the Trial of Nullification held twenty-four years after she was killed and which came to an opposite conclusion. He writes his poems from many different points of view, not only of the people who were called to testify, but also from inanimate objects and animals that are in the company of Joan such as the altar at which Joan prayed or the cattle she tended or the castle of Charles VII and particularly throughout the fire that consumed her. Beyond that is the design of the book with many of the poems set into visual forms such as the three prongs of a pitchfork or the circular design of a crown. Don’t miss this one.