Warrior Girl

Warrior Girl is set in early 15th-century France when, once again, the English are besieging the countryside and few families are left unscathed. Mariane de Courcey, whose father died in the battle of Agincourt, discovers her mother brutally killed and is sent to relatives in Domrémy for her own safety. Here she meets Jehanne, who is subject to strange visions, and becomes caught up in the quest to save France, which will ensure her cousin’s lasting fame as Jehanne d’Arc. This quest promises to satisfy Mariane’s thirst for revenge on the English who have orphaned her, but soon involves dangers apart from travelling through occupied France. Mariane’s father, François, came from the noble de Louvier family, and was heir to the manor of La Paix. However, since he married her humbly-born mother in secret, Mariane’s only definite legacy is a box containing a prayer book, a soldier’s badge and a glove with a ring – the de Louvier seal – hidden in it. While Jehanne battles against the apathy of the French soldiery under the Dauphin’s negligent command, Mariane has to contend with the enmity of her Uncle, seeking to possess La Paix.

Chandler takes a piece of history which young English readers are likely to know only in outline and breathes new life into it. Mariane is a strong heroine, whose trauma has left her unable to speak, but determined nonetheless to act, in a society which construes women’s roles primarily as domestic workers, wives and mothers. Mariane’s struggle to mould her own destiny and secure the humane management of La Paix is counterpointed with Jehanne d’Arc’s mission to rescue France in the teeth of contemporary religious and social prejudice. The book is solidly rooted in the world of late Medieval France and the life of the countryside, court and battlefield is vividly evoked in spare, yet sensuous language. Highly recommended for both secondary school girls and boys.