Joan of Domrémy by Kenneth Maitland - Book Review
By Zaher Alajlani
Kenneth Maitland’s Joan of Domrémy is a unique, if not daring, novella that takes the reader to a strange world where history is not only reimagined but also reinvented. In Joan, historical accuracy and its rigid factual narrative are sacrificed for the sake of philosophy, religious musings, and even satire. This results in a protagonist whom we rarely encounter in the retelling of the Joan of Arc myth. For Maitland, Joan is more of a voice than a character. Her role is to facilitate our entry into that dreamlike realm. The reader will surely perceive the author’s technique as somewhat atypical but will still admit that Maitland excels at devising ethereal plains of existence.
The narrator, throughout the book, refrains from exploiting the notion of martyrdom, a motif that has been overused in this genre. Maitland, instead, depicts Joan as neither a saint nor a heretic, but as someone we can relate to, one who, despite her theatrical affinity for religious riddles and philosophical jabs, is knowable.
Good books typically offer readers a sense of intimacy while challenging their established perceptions and perspectives. Maitland accomplishes the first through his construction of Joan and the second by using the bizarre. Here, the author effectively employs anachronism and disorientation. To recommend Joan of Domrémy to a reader is to invite them to a place of beauty and confusion—the trademark of Maitland. The reader may be overwhelmed or underwhelmed by the latter. Most certainly, however, they’d be looking forward to seeing what Maitland has in store for us next.