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.
