The Language of Fire: Joan of Arc Reimagined

by Stephanie Hemphill

The Language of Fire is a lyrical, dark, and moving look at the life of Joan of Arc, who as a teen girl in the fifteenth century commanded an army and helped crown a king of France.

This extraordinary verse novel from award-winning author Stephanie Hemphill dares to imagine how an ordinary girl became a great leader, and ultimately saved a nation.

Jehanne was an illiterate peasant, never quite at home among her siblings and peers. Until one day, she hears a voice call to her, telling her she is destined for important things. She begins to understand that she has been called by God, chosen for a higher purpose—to save France.

Through sheer determination and incredible courage, Jehanne becomes the unlikeliest of heroes. She runs away from home, dresses in men’s clothes, and convinces an army that she will lead France to victory.

As a girl in a man’s world, at a time when women truly had no power, Jehanne faced constant threats and violence from the men around her. Despite the impossible odds, Jehanne became a fearless warrior who has inspired generations.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult, Historical, Retellings, Fiction, Feminism

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2019

About the author

Stephanie Hemphill's first novel in poems, Things Left Unsaid, was published by Hyperion in 2005 and was awarded the 2006 Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Excellence in Poetry by the Children's Literature Council of Southern California.

Her second novel, a verse portrait of Sylvia Plath, Your Own, Sylvia was published by Knopf in March 2007. A third novel in verse for teens, Wicked Girls, a verse story of the Salem witch trials, will come out from Hyperion in the spring of 2009.

Stephanie received an SCBWI Magazine Merit Award in Poetry and chaired the PEN Award's Children's Literature Committee. She has been writing, studying and presenting poetry for adults and children for many years at UCLA, the University of Illinois (where she received an award from The Academy of American Poets), with Writers at Work and at conferences across the country. Stephanie lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

i have always been fascinated by joan of arc and im so sad her story is not one that is commonly retold.

i love how much effort was put into the research behind this. fact is integrated very well into this reimagining of joans life and mission. i loved reading about what her childhood/home life might have been like, as well as her journey to liberate france. the content is endlessly captivating.

however, i just didnt connect with writing. if a story is going to be told in verse, i want the writing to feel poetic. but this just feels very underwhelming to me. its as if a regular prose sentence was separated with a few words on every line. i was missing that beautiful magic that poetry creates. its what could have made an interesting story into a work of art. so that kind of bummed me out.

overall, i really enjoyed the subject but the writing left something to be desired.

↠ 3.5 stars

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this Joan Of Arc Reimagined! I’ve actually been looking for history books of Joan for quite some time and can find none available. If anyone can give me recs, I’d appreciate it!



This book was great and sad 😕. Now I’m going to go paint the edges

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Verónica Fleitas Solich · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Joan of Arc is mentioned, there I am.
This narration in verse in Joan's voice was a profound experience that at times was difficult to read. She, recounting her anguish, her needs, her courage, her fears and her passion shaped a moving story that squeezed my heart painfully, that's why it took me so long to read it.
This book caused me the constant need to come to Joan's rescue and for that alone, I think it was a marvelous job.
It was nice to read a humanized Joan within all the mysticism of history.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book begins when Joan of Arc, in her early adolescence, first hears the voice of God assigning her the task of helping to end the Hundred Years' War, and continues up to and beyond her death. Told in the format of a verse novel, the book reimagines the rise of a well-known historical figure in a way that feels completely fresh and full of the kind of details that are often discarded when discussing the almost mythical leader. An excellent retelling.

[Saruuh Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm always on the look out for new novels in verse, so when I saw a poetry book about Joan of Arc? No brainer, got it instantly.

This book is, as you would expect, difficult to read at times. It shows the best and worst parts of religion, humanity, and the treatment of women at the time (and does a not terrible job of reflecting the current state of things, either.) I didn't enjoy the book per se, I don't think you CAN enjoy something this rough and difficult to read, but I am glad I read it. I feel like I know more about Joan of Arc now, and I appreciate the further reading bit in the back. This book is so well written, and Joan's faith and belief in God shines through on every page. It's not a book I'll forget, and it's one I'll recommend every time Joan's (or Jehanne's) name crops up.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly, a boon for the mentally unwell 11-year-old girls of the world who know far too much about Joan of Arc.
I would have enjoyed it more if I was Catholic, I think.

[Andréa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually write reviews; this was written for a school assignment.

Stephanie Hemphill continues her tradition of giving voice to historical and misunderstood women with this captivating novelization-in-verse of Joan of Arc’s life.

Born a peasant in a divided France, Jehanne’s one hope is to see her country united under its rightful king, Charles. Guided by the voice of God, she embarks on a quest to drive out the English and see Charles crowned.

Hemphill’s novel introduces readers to this determined teen of legend, from childhood through death. The first-person narrative, broken into short journal-like entries, humanizes the prophecy-fulfilling hero who was sainted almost 500 years after death. Readers will relate to Jehanne’s struggles with authority, gender expectations, life purpose, identity, and familial obligations. Hemphill’s use of Jehanne’s own spelling of her name as well as the French spellings of other names adds authenticity to the text and assists in differentiating between the many people named John/Joan.

Although the threats of rape, descriptions of battles, and Jehanne’s frequent and detailed dreams of death by fire may be difficult to read, they are the unfortunate reality of Jehanne’s life. The prose foreword is daunting, but it provides important historical context for the story and where it fits in the long conflict between France and England.

Backmatter includes an author’s note explaining Hemphill’s motivation in writing the story as well as where the narrative deviates from recorded fact. There is also a bibliography of suggested further reading.

Highly recommended for literature and history studies, as well as leisure reading.

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Caylynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even if I can't change the direction of the wind, why must I agree that foul air smells sweet?

Meh. I can't say that I really enjoyed this one as much as I hoped I was going to. Admittedly, I found myself continuously comparing this novel to David Elliott's Voices that was published back in March of this year. I was absolutely blown away by that novel, since it was my first introduction to fiction told through verse.

However, The Language of Fire just fell a little too short for me. Where Elliott's novel told Joan of Arc's tale through visually stunning works of written art, Hemphill's book is made up of simple freeform poetry. Relatively short stanzas that don't even rhyme (which isn't usually a problem for me) fill up an unnecessary amount of pages. While I enjoyed the story itself for the most part, I don't think the author's style of writing fits with verse in general. I probably would've liked this book a lot more if it was told in a typical BOOK layout.

Also, I hate to admit it... but I was a tad bit annoyed by how monotonous Joan was. There wasn't any change in regards to her POV and voice throughout the entirety of the novel. And since the whole story was told through her perspective, it really dragged the book to the point where I just wanted to skim some of the stanzas. The inclusion of multiple side characters is what really brought my love of Voices up a few notches, since Elliott used numerous forms of poetry to differentiate between each character's POV. If Hemphill had done this, I'm sure it would've broken up the repetitive flow of the story.

I would definitely give this book a read if you love reading about Joan of Arc like I do. It wasn't a terrible novel, by any means, but I think that Voices dominates the JoA verse stories to the point where it has ruined every other one for me lol. I'll never say no to getting my hands on more tales about my favorite heroine, which is why I gave The Language of Fire 3/5 instead of 2/5.

[Athena of Velaris · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I understand now my final purpose--
through my words and deeds
to inspire others
to find hope and strength
to speak and act.

The girls who fear
the fire inside themselves,
I burned for them.”

This novel in verse was fine. Telling the famous story of Joan of Arc, it began with her childhood, ending on the date of her death. The poetry itself was mediocre, and did not blow me away.
It often felt like
the author
was pressing enter
too many times
instead of
actually writing
lyrically.
Personally, I am fascinated by Joan of Arc, but didn't find this particular narrative to be very compelling. Joan (called Jehanne) did not grow as a person, and she often felt stiff and unfeeling. None of the side characters stood out, and it was easy to forget who was who. That being said, this novel was super easy to read, and I found that it was hard to put down, especially after Part 1.

“Perhaps it is easier
For others
To believe in you
Than it is
To believe
In yourself.”

I definitely enjoyed portions of this book, but it could have been 200 pages shorter. The beginning dragged, and the battle scenes were slightly glossed over. It focused mainly on Joan's trial, which is fine, I just would have liked to see more of Joan actually fighting for King and country. Overall, The Language of Fire wasn't bad, it just wasn't particularly good either.

[Samm | Sassenach the Book Wizard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot twist: she dies

Why have I never read verse before this year?! It lends itself SO WELL to historical fiction!
I really liked the start of this book especially since her family life is not something I've really ever heard of. I also loved how this showed how heavily manipulated faith was in order to suppress women. Also, big shout out to the author for simplify the Hundred Years War and complex political conflicts into like 3 digestible pages at the beginning.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first YA book written in verse that I felt really nailed the execution. There were so many beautifully written sentences, but I never felt like the language's beauty was more important than the actual plot and voice of Jehanne. Everything about this book felt purposeful. I think this book could also be loved by both Catholics and non-Catholics because Jehanne is written as such a good character.

[Cara (Wilde Book Garden) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edit: Yeah, I'm dropping this to 2.5 stars.

I just can't get on board with the way the author edited Joan's experiences and beliefs and then gave a really weird (and incorrect) reason for it. That, plus all the writing and characterization issues I had, means this was a 2.5 star book for me.

***

Still deciding on a final rating for this one...somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.

The first 2/3 was incredibly disappointing. The last 1/3 was obviously difficult to read because of the subject matter but overall was much better written and had a strong emotional impact, and Hemphill's characterization of Joan/Jehanne actually had some depth in this section.

But wow, still a disappointment overall. I'm gonna need to wait for my wrap up to really sort out all the exact ways this didn't work for me, but just a few for starters:
-turning Joan of Arc into a bland Strong Female Character™ for the first 300 pages
-writing a novel in verse in a way that...basically was just stringing out regular sentences into multiple lines
-some parts of the Author's Note REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. Specifically, Hemphill made the decision to write that Joan heard one voice, the voice of God, instead of the 3 voices she attests to in all the records: those of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. Which seems like an odd authorial choice, but whatever, maybe Stephanie Hemphill felt that simplifying that was really important for the story. But then, she gives her reasoning, and it's this:

"I chose to simplify three voices into one, not only for ease of reading comprehension, but more importantly because although in the fifteenth century hearing the voices of saints was not hard for people to imagine, modern readers do not in large part pray to saints."

...Excuse me? I can definitively tell you that Roman Catholics still very much ask for the intercession of the saints, and I believe the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches do as well.

(And while we're on the subject, no Christian denomination prays TO saints or worships them - we ask them to pray for us. This might sound nitpicky, and maybe it is, but it's something we get accused of all the time and you'd think someone who did so much research on Joan of Arc would come across that information at least once.)

And it would have been so easy to avoid the issue! If the author made the decision because she believed it would make her book more accessible/relatable to more people, it still seems like a weird detail to change, but whatever, that's fine. Just say in your author's note that you did it for those reasons. But don't act like it's because saints just aren't relevant anymore or that the story wouldn't be understandable if you didn't alter that aspect.

Also, I'm in no way saying that the three denominations listed above outrank other belief systems or should be the deciding factor of what an author does! Just that with the way the author worded things, she made it sound like *almost no one* is concerned with saints anymore, so she *had* to change an important detail of Joan's story.

Anyway. Still stewing over my rating and how much I should let these personal feelings affect that. In the meantime, I would highly recommend David Elliott's Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc over this book. Different structure and set-up, but much better written in my opinion.

CW: War, grief, sleep and water deprivation torture, threat of rape, execution, death by burning; off-page: death in childbirth, stillbirth; references to: torture

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know much about the story of Joan of Arc other than the simple details of her hearing angels, helping to crown the Dauphin, and subsequently being burnt at the stake by the English. That being said, I really enjoyed this book!

The point of view of Jehanne (as she called herself) was so vivid. I felt as if I was with her throughout her journey. However, I would have enjoyed knowing what was happening in a broader sense, like what other people were thinking or doing. I might end up looking for more novels and nonfiction to help expand my knowledge of this time period.

It was also very interesting to read this after watching Netflix's "The King", starring Timothee Chalamet. The movie shows the events that led to the Hundred Years War. I'm not sure of its accuracy, since I haven't read much about the war. But the idea that the war wasn't intentionally started by the English is interesting to compare to Jehanne's view of the English as a horrible enemy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book much more than Hemphill's other work, "Wicked Girls". The verse writing style merged well with this story and the plot was much less juvenile. If you're interested in Joan of Arc, the Hundred Years War, or French history, I highly recommend "The Language of Fire".

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

The Language of Fire is a Young Adult version of Joan of Arc told through verse.

This book is divided into eight parts and tells the story of Joan of Arc. The book starts with a very long foreward explaining the actual story.

Before reading this I wondered if the verse would be extremely complex. But the book is written quite simply, in very short chapters. And it was easy to understand.

The narrator is Jehanne (how the author refers to Joan of Arc). The book comes across almost as non-fiction. But I guess it is a combination between actual facts and how the author imagined things happening. But truthfully when I saw that the book was called "Joan of Arc Reimagined" I was sort of hoping for a different type of retelling. Maybe a contemporary setting. Or the author completely re-imagining Joan's life. But that is not what this book is at all.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed the way this story was told. It was a very interesting way to tell the story. It is basically the retelling of a famous historical figure told through verse.






Thanks to edelweiss and Balzer + Bray for allowing me to read this book.

[Emilee King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I should’ve guessed this book would be a little heavy, but I’m shocked at how much it hit me. Such a unique blend of history, fiction, and faith. Honestly makes me wish for more female-led scripture stories. Not only did I learn a lot, but Jehanne’s personal and endearing narrative combined with a unique writing style and hard-hitting tale makes for powerful storytelling 4.6/5

[Kelly Hager]

Stephanie Hemphill explains in a note before the book begins that she chose to call Joan of Arc Jehanne because that was how she referred to herself. Also, like her other books, this is a novel in verse.

I didn't know very much about Joan of Arc before reading this book. (Young girl hears voices from God, leads an army, burned at the stake, eventually canonized.) I'm over twice her age now; she was martyred at 19.

Another thing I didn't know is that she started hearing voices (technically, she heard from three saints) at 13. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been or how hard it would be to find the courage to believe that you're really supposed to lead the French army and get the correct person on the throne. It'd be hard enough to believe it today, but back in the 1400s when women didn't do anything but get married and have kids? Hard pass.

While I learned a great deal about Jehanne while reading this, it didn't feel at all like homework. She was a trailblazer although I don't think she would've agreed with that assessment; she felt she was just doing what God wanted. 

As Stephanie Hemphill pointed out, she's the only female warrior most people can name and the only woman who saved a country who wasn't born into a royal family. (She was actually a peasant.) It's an amazing legacy, but it's also more than time for there to be multiple examples of this.

At any rate, I loved this book and hope to read more about Joan of Arc.

[Tiffani Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the young age of 12, I was introduced to the story of Joan of Arc. Ever since then she has been someone in history that I had searched out books about.

This book stays true to her life for the most part, the author does talk about changing or interpreting some details for the sake of the story. Like the parts about Joan’s childhood, which little is known.

Told in verse, this may be one of my favourite retellings of her life and ultimate death. There are just a few things keeping me from giving it a full five stars. Some of the pacing was off for me, and I found myself having to reread passages for them to make sense.

Overall I would give this book, 4.25 stars and I recommend that anyone with an interest in Joan of Arc check this book out.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a stunner, an epic work of poetry retelling the story of Joan of Arc in a very accessible and modern way. It’s meticulously researched and focuses more than anything on her humanity—her fears, her doubts, her devotion, and her bravery. I couldn’t put it down. It’s a story all girls and women need right now. She spoke her truth and never backed down. She was a true warrior.

[♥ Ava · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

Hmmm…this was a difficult one to rate.

From the beginning, The Language of Fire was very promising! I really enjoyed reading about Jehanne growing up different from everyone—I thought that was written so well. 🤩

But then, once Jehanne gathered her army and started fighting, the book became a bit boring and repetitive. It was just battle after battle after battle! 🥱 Each battle is part of Joan of Arc’s story, buuut the war section of this book was just a bit dry. 🫥

I hoped it would get better, but then Jehanne spent agessss in prison. This section of the book also felt repetitive and dry. A part of the story, yes, but for me at least, it was a bit bland. 😬

That being said, this story did have beautiful moments. ✨ There are sevverrraalll great quotes I could pull from the book that are very thought-inspiring! I wish that the amazing beginning of this book was carried out through the rest of it. 😕

At times,
I also felt like
I was reading a
Wikipedia page
that looked like
this.

Some little bits here and there seemed more informative and less narrative. Of course this is historical fiction and there will be history 🤪, but what I love about historical fiction is that I can learn about historical people and events while also feeling like I can connect to these people and feel like I was at these events. Some spots of this book just felt like snippets of a Wikipedia page, and made me lose interest, unfortunately! (Especially part 8…whhaaaa…😦) *

*That being said, this book did have good information on Joan of Arc and was a creative take on her story!

The prose of this book—especially in the beginning—was really beautiful!

Does it look like
the author
typed a
regular sentence and
is just
hitting enter
a tooooooooon
of times?
Yes.

But I thought the way the author conveyed the story through concise, chopped-up bits of prose really worked! 👏🏻 (In the beginning, at least. Like I said, the rest of the book felt a bit dry to me, so the prose lost its magic for me, which is really sad! ☹️) My writer brain realized this style of verse is something really cool, so I will definitely be experimenting with verse in the future! So that’s one of my greatest takeaways from this book!! 😄

The pacing (even though the story was boring in a few places) was really fast and I read it in 3 days! So it is a good quick read. 👍🏻

Overall, I did still enjoy the story, even though it was a bit dry in places. I’m going to rate it 3.25 stars, because I liked the writing and the beginning and had a cool takeaway. Is this a generous rating? Ehhhh maybe. 👀 I mean it, did serve its purpose—I have learned about Joan of Arc!!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot explain my love for this book enough. ​

The amount of painstaking research and passion for the story is unmatched by most other books I have read. Stephanie Hemphill outshines her competitors with depth, poetry, and the heart wrenching reality of Joan of Arc's fascinating life. The story of a young woman – young girl, really – is so complex and outstanding that for hundreds of years Joan was regarded as a witch instead of what she really was – a hero. ​
Clearly writing a historical book in the first person is difficult – after all, none of us really know what Joan was thinking throughout her battles, trials, and imprisonment. However, I believe that Hemphill channels Joan's personality and her actual historical experiences well in this novel of poetry. ​

Something I love is that Joan of Arc is called Jehanne D'Arc, La Pucelle, (Joan of Arc, the Maid) which is what she would have been called throughout her mission and life. ​
Even such a small detail as that makes the story more personal, more realistic. ​

Introducing characters was also done well in this narrative. It was done in such a way that their names, personalities, and positions were painted vivdly and easy to remember. I have always loved the story of Jehanne D'Arc, and this written masterpeice showed her to me in a whole new light. I highly recommend it, but not to anyone under the age of 12 or 13, as Jehanne experienced a quantity of violence and abuse throughout her life. ​

This inspiring book gets my 5-out-of-5-star review, an expression that my mom once defined as, "I loved this book so much, I want to buy my own copy and then buy five more that I can lend to people so they can love it, too."​
That pretty much shows how great this book was. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in any of the following: history, war, Christian heros, biographies, poetry, girl power stories, or underdog stories. ​This 8-part novel covers Jehanne D'Arc's childhood, conquests, life, and death. It shows her family and friends as well. Shocking realism and emotional capacity <3

Kudos to Stephanie Hemphill for supplying such a wonderful piece of art to our broken world. ​

​

[Vera West · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the beginning and the end the most. I found the middle to be redundant and the poetry not really poetry. It was more like prose written in poetry format. Even with free verse, there is a certain internalized rhythm that has to beat and it just wasn't there for me. There was also a lack of imagery and emotion/force that feels necessary to poetry. This would have read the same as prose and would have read a little easier as prose. Even so, it was a huge undertaking and I thought it was navigated and broken up well. I would try other books by this author.

[Kalie Bybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, my only critique is that Joan’s story and life is amazing enough. We don’t need to make her a feminist icon. She wouldn’t have had a lot of the negative thoughts about her gender role, as the author pointed out in the end. So why should we do that for her? Seems unfair to put those thoughts on her. Girls and women will look up to her for what she did without that negativity. She bravely did what God asked her to do and that’s amazing.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me a while to read, but I learned a lot about Joan of Arc and appreciated the way the author helped take us inside the story and situation.

[Robin Pelletier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love a good heroine story that’s historically accurate. And I do so love a novel in verse. This novel has both. I’ve always loved Joan of Arc. This story chronicles Joan’s earlyish life to her martyrdom. Creative liberties were taken. But overall, it’s based in history.

[fjaldous · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think like 3.5 stars. It was a good story but I honestly didn’t think it was that well written.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first novel in verse! Beautiful and haunting.

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long but good. Pair with Elliott’s Voices

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one surprised me a bit. I was expecting it to be interesting but I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did! I’ve never had a particular interest in Joan of Arc though I do find her intriguing, especially after reading this book. I know a good deal of this book is fictionalized, as it would have to be to tell the story it wished to, but still to read of all the things she accomplished, overcame, and endured in her last days. For being so young and inconsequential (before she rose to fame), and a woman at that point in history, it feels nothing short of miraculous. I did feel after reading it a while that the poetry style of writing, while it made the book go by quickly and gave the story a sense of urgency, did seem a bit unnecessary. Despite that, I think this is one that will stick with me for some time.

Edit: I realize how similar the beginning of this book is to the beginning of the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which is interesting. Why did I point that out? No reason, just interesting. Almost wonder if one was inspired by the other.

[Megan Houde · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The girls who fear the fire inside themselves, I burned for them.”

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. It takes the history of Joan of Arc and turned into a reimagined poem form. The chapters flew by, but the book itself was made as if from her point of view of her life. It was a really neat concept and a great way to learn history. I honestly think this book should be a part of history classes, kids would grasp it a lot easier.