The Book of Joan
“Riveting, ravishing, and crazy deep, The Book of Joan is as ferociously intelligent as it is heart-wrenchingly humane, as generous as it is relentless, as irresistible as it is important.”
Cheryl Strayed, New York Times bestselling author
A New York Times Notable Book • BuzzFeed 50 Books We Can't Wait to Read this Year • New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice • National Bestseller
"Brilliant and incendiary." - Jeff VanderMeer, New York Times Book Review
""Stunning… . Yuknavitch understands that our collective narrative can either destroy or redeem us, and the outcome depends not just on who's telling it, but also on who's listening." - O, The Oprah Magazine
"[A] searing fusion of literary fiction and reimagined history and science-fiction thriller and eco-fantasy." - NPR Books
The bestselling author of The Small Backs of Children offers a vision of our near-extinction and a heroine-a reimagined Joan of Arc-poised to save a world ravaged by war, violence, and greed, and forever change history
In the near future, world wars have transformed the earth into a battleground. Fleeing the unending violence and the planet's now-radioactive surface, humans have regrouped to a mysterious platform known as CIEL, hovering over their erstwhile home. The changed world has turned evolution on its head: the surviving humans have become sexless, hairless, pale-white creatures floating in isolation, inscribing stories upon their skin.
Out of the ranks of the endless wars rises Jean de Men, a charismatic and bloodthirsty cult leader who turns CIEL into a quasi-corporate police state. A group of rebels unite to dismantle his iron rule-galvanized by the heroic song of Joan, a child-warrior who possesses a mysterious force that lives within her and communes with the earth. When de Men and his armies turn Joan into a martyr, the consequences are astonishing. And no one-not the rebels, Jean de Men, or even Joan herself-can foresee the way her story and unique gift will forge the destiny of an entire world for generations.
A riveting tale of destruction and love found in the direst of places-even at the extreme end of post-human experience-Lidia Yuknavitch's The Book of Joan raises questions about what it means to be human, the fluidity of sex and gender, and the role of art as a means for survival.
Praise