'Ali Alizadeh’s novel The Last Days of Jeanne d’Arc is a new interpretation of the life of one of history’s most fascinating figures, Joan of Arc. Countless books have been written about the young Frenchwoman who claimed to hear the voices of saints, led the armies of France in the war against England in the Middle Ages, and was captured and burnt for heresy by her enemies. This novel, while based on a rigorous and extensive study of the existing historical material, tells the well-known story in a new and provocative way. Alizadeh provides the first serious dramatisation of Jeanne’s sexuality. He uses an innovative storytelling technique that weaves together a range of narrative perspectives to tell the story of a courageous young woman who, driven by a forbidden desire and a passion for justice, changes the course of Western history.' (Publication Summary)
Dedication: for Anna
'One need not be a parent of a young child, as I am, to be conscious of the full-blown resurgence of the superhero in contemporary popular culture. Beyond the dizzying proliferation of fetishised merchandise to do with Marvel and DC protagonists and the frankly obscene sights of middle-aged folk squeezed into uncomplaining lycra and leotards at Comic-Con gatherings, one may sense the spectral presence of the hero, that crucial cultural figure which has beguiled humanity since the epics of Homer and the demigods of ancient mythology. Yet there is more to the hero than a fanciful tale of courage and exceptional strength.' (Introduction)
'The sacking of Troy, Henry VIII and his wives, and the life and trial of Joan of Arc are among the brassy blockbusters of history. What draws novelists, filmmakers, playwrights and other myth-makers back to these stories when they have been told thousands of times before?' (Introduction)
'In the preface to her historical account of the life and death of Jeanne d’Arc, Larissa Juliet Taylor observes that the sainted virgin warrior ‘has, in the nearly six centuries since her death, become everything to everyone – a Catholic, a proto-Protestant, a right or left wing partisan, anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-colonialist, and even the face on cheese, chocolates, baked beans, and cosmetics’. From the minds of Shakespeare to André Malraux, Mark Twain to Luc Bresson, tens of thousands of literary, scholarly, dramatic, political, and visual representations of the maid have emerged, each one contributing to the re-imagining of this canonical figure though retellings, re-enactments and revisions. In the opening pages of his novel, The Last Days of Jeanne d’Arc, Ali Alizadeh challenges them all: ‘And how little… anyone… knows about the truth of Jeanne’s life.’ (Introduction)
'Joan of Arc was naive, a holy fool – if she wasn’t in secret extremely shrewd and pragmatic. The saintly ‘voices’ she claimed to hear were schizophrenia – if they weren’t ergotism, or epilepsy, or purely a rhetorical device. She cross-dressed for practical reasons – if it wasn’t due to some religious idiosyncracy, or to protect herself from rape, or an issue of gender identity.' (Introduction)
'The many gaps in the verifiable history of Jeanne d’Arc’s early years in rural France, as well as her improbable rise to prominence and martyrdom, have left room for a considerable amount of speculation and projection over the centuries. There is no shortage of fictional or historical accounts of her life, or ways of characterising the Maid’s struggle, but with The Last Days of Jeanne d’Arc Ali Alizadeh breathes fresh life into a story that has been retold and re-contextualised over and again.' (Introduction)
'The sacking of Troy, Henry VIII and his wives, and the life and trial of Joan of Arc are among the brassy blockbusters of history. What draws novelists, filmmakers, playwrights and other myth-makers back to these stories when they have been told thousands of times before?' (Introduction)
'It begins with the Maid of Orléans, history’s most charismatic female hero, languishing in an English dungeon. Great ladies glide through and brutish guards hurl abuse, but none suspect her secret: the warrior virgin who led an army and changed the course of history has loved – and been loved in return.' (Introduction)
'Joan of Arc was naive, a holy fool – if she wasn’t in secret extremely shrewd and pragmatic. The saintly ‘voices’ she claimed to hear were schizophrenia – if they weren’t ergotism, or epilepsy, or purely a rhetorical device. She cross-dressed for practical reasons – if it wasn’t due to some religious idiosyncracy, or to protect herself from rape, or an issue of gender identity.' (Introduction)
'In the preface to her historical account of the life and death of Jeanne d’Arc, Larissa Juliet Taylor observes that the sainted virgin warrior ‘has, in the nearly six centuries since her death, become everything to everyone – a Catholic, a proto-Protestant, a right or left wing partisan, anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-colonialist, and even the face on cheese, chocolates, baked beans, and cosmetics’. From the minds of Shakespeare to André Malraux, Mark Twain to Luc Bresson, tens of thousands of literary, scholarly, dramatic, political, and visual representations of the maid have emerged, each one contributing to the re-imagining of this canonical figure though retellings, re-enactments and revisions. In the opening pages of his novel, The Last Days of Jeanne d’Arc, Ali Alizadeh challenges them all: ‘And how little… anyone… knows about the truth of Jeanne’s life.’ (Introduction)
'One need not be a parent of a young child, as I am, to be conscious of the full-blown resurgence of the superhero in contemporary popular culture. Beyond the dizzying proliferation of fetishised merchandise to do with Marvel and DC protagonists and the frankly obscene sights of middle-aged folk squeezed into uncomplaining lycra and leotards at Comic-Con gatherings, one may sense the spectral presence of the hero, that crucial cultural figure which has beguiled humanity since the epics of Homer and the demigods of ancient mythology. Yet there is more to the hero than a fanciful tale of courage and exceptional strength.' (Introduction)
