Part of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, book 4.5
First published 2010
Joan of Arc faces her last trial in the English-controlled city of Rouen. The peasant girl who convinced a king and lifted the siege of Orléans now stands accused of heresy and witchcraft. Her English captors and their Burgundian allies have constructed an ecclesiastical court designed to destroy her credibility and justify her execution. Joan confronts bishops and theologians who twist her words and question her divine visions. The judges press her about her male clothing, her refusal to submit to church authority, and her claim that God speaks to her directly. She maintains her faith in her voices even as the political machinery of her enemies closes around her. The trial becomes a battle between Joan's unwavering conviction and the institutional power determined to eliminate the symbol of French resistance. Scott reconstructs the final chapter of the Maid of Orléans through the surviving court records and contemporary accounts.
Genres: historical, historical-fiction, biography-memoir, historical-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-events, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Rouen, Orleans
Period: Medieval
23 pages · Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: death, violence