Book description
It
is the early part of the fifteenth century and the tumultuous Hundred
Years War
rages on. The French city of Orleans is under siege, English soldiers tear
through the countryside wreaking destruction on 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 Domremy, a twelve-year-old
peasant girl, Jehanne, hears a voice that will change her life - and the course
of European history.
The
tale of Jehanne d'Arc, the saint and warrior who believed she had been chosen
by God to save France, and who led an army of 10,000 soldiers against the
English, 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 her violent father and a forced marriage, who taught herself to
ride, and
fight, and lead, and who somehow found the courage and tenacity to convince
first one, then two, then tens, then thousands to follow her, is at once
thrilling, unexpected and heart-breaking.
Sweeping, gripping and rich
with intrigue, betrayal, love and valour, The Maid
is an unforgettable
novel about the power and burden of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating
consequences of fame. Kimberly Cutter has written for Harper's Bazaar
,
W Magazine
, Vanity Fair
,
Men's Vogue
, New York Magazine
,
and The London Telegraph
. From 2000 to 2004 she was
the West Coast Editor for W Magazine
. In 1998, she
received her master's degree in fiction writing from the University of
Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow. She lives in Brooklyn, New
York.
