A Tale of Two Maidens: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

Fifteen-year-old Felise, an apprentice scribe in medieval France, is in a desperate situation. She yearns to find a way to become a writer and a book shop owner, but in order to achieve her dreams she must first escape from her cruel guardian, who is plotting an arranged marriage for her.

As the Hundred Years War rages all around Felise, Joan of Arc blazes into history, claiming God-given powers to set France free from English control. Her courage inspires Felise to run away, but every day of the journey that follows draws the young scribe further into the underbelly of a world she has never knowna world of burning villages and terrified peasants left behind in the path of war. She soon encounters a young man from home who begins to pursue her, and she is drawn to him despite her quest for freedom and distrust of men. But following after the army, she meets Joan face to face, and finds herself torn between her heroines single-minded sense of purpose and her own desire for love and personal fulfillment.

A Tale of Two Maidens brings to life the story of an ordinary medieval girl on an extraordinary adventureone that will require her to dig within herself to claim her own true, independent, and heroic destiny.

Reviews

. . . Echols historical details are seamlessly worked into the narrative, and the pace carries the reader along . . .
Kristen McDermott, Historical Novel Society review

Heroism in the Middle Ages was not confined to men in armorbut of course, the acts of ordinary people, particularly women, were rarely recorded. A Tale of Two Maidens helps to balance the scales. What makes this book exceptional is the fine detail and research of the Hundred Years War that Echols incorporates in her portrayal of everyday life. This skillful blend of fact and fiction sheds welcome light on those from all social ranks who rise to meet the trials of war and conquest.
David Darracott, author of Internal Security and Wasted

Echols novel is impeccably researched and absolutely riveting. To read A Tale of Two Maidens is to be completely transported to another time and place.
Rebecca Kanner, author of Sinners and the Sea and Esther

I love it when a writer brings both scholarship and imagination to a work of historical fiction. Anne Echols uses her vast knowledge of the Middle Ages to forge a tale of a girl who crosses paths with Joan of Arc. Visions and everyday details spring to life and one can hear, taste, and smell the world of medieval France. Follow Felise as she makes her own dark way in the shadow of a martyr. An engrossing read!
Duncan W. Alderson, author of the Harpers Bazaar must-read Magnolia City

Author Bio

Anne Echols is the coauthor (with Marty Williams) of two nonfiction books, Between Pit and Pedestal: Women in the Middle Ages and An Annotated Index of Medieval Women. Her research for those projects inspired her to go beyond historical facts and imagine the fictional stories of ordinary women from the Middle Ages. After earning a BA and masters degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Anne enjoyed a long career of teaching English to high school students with language learning disabilities. Her husband, Russ, and she have two adult children. Recently retired, she is grateful for the opportunity to divide her time between Silver Spring, Maryland, where her grandchildren live, and Atlanta, Georgia.