Pope Joan - A Novel, by Donna Woolfolk Cross (2009 edition)
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:25 pm
Pope Joan - A Novel
This book was selected by a reading group I was in a little over three years ago.
Book Description:
The novel is supposedly historical fiction and describes the ascent of a woman in the late 9th century to the office of Pope. The protagonist, Joan, enters the novel as an extremely bright, promising young woman who is crushed under the norms of the times. Her mother is of pagan decent and is an inspiration for Joan as a slightly rebellious, not quite civilized wife of a small village clergyman. Expected to marry and become a wife (good, bad, or indifferent) to a simple man, she is the beneficiary of coincidence and/or fate along with a few liberal teachers who pave the way for her to assume the life of a young man studying to join the clergy. As the title gives away, she eventually rises to become Pope John VIII. The primary theme of the book is "female empowerment", as Joan struggles against a society where her sex is little more than property to the men. At every turn, her wit and innate intelligence carry her over obstacle after obstacle as she is able to gain an education, skill, political position, and effect change.
Historical Basis
The author takes great pains in the introduction and notes at the end of the novel to assure the reader that while the novel is fiction, the character of Joan is based on a real person who lived sometime in the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church and its culture are cast as the true antagonist of the story who conspired not only against all women, but in destroying the history surrounding Pope Joan. The average reader of the book is not given a nuanced portrayal of the history and evidence for or against a potential female pope in history. Instead, it is treated as fact and spoken with the certitude that befits a story seeking to replace one dogma for another.
My Own Experience with the Novel
Our reading group consisted of mostly women who had professional backgrounds and college educations. What surprised me was how quick most of the group was to accept the narrative as history without question. This ran so deep that the few times it was questioned it turned the normally friendly atmosphere we enjoyed rather heated in the discussion. Clearly, for some the power of the story and its message was more important than the historical facts. Even more surprising to me, I realized that most members of the group were either disinclined or ill-equipped to examine the historicity of the story critically. It wasn't enough to accept the story as potentially untrue but inspirational. It was "TRUTH" and it had to be accepted as such.
You can judge for yourself whether the facts are historical, beginning with the Wiki. It turned out there was a lot of information on this, both pro and con, on the net.
My final opinion on the novel - it read like a soap opera gave birth to Forrest Gump. It was written like a romance novel which I do not care for, while the main character had all the same good fortune of Forrest Gump but without the charm that comes from his innocence.
The author of the book makes herself available to phone into reading groups. One of our group members contacted her, and she graciously accepted. We held our meeting with the author conferencing in after we had talked about 15 minutes. After the call, which lasted about a half hour, we talked for an additional hour.
It turns out that Ms. Cross was primarily interested in hearing how women were becoming empowered by the novel and less interested in discussing the novel itself. Without going into details, I think the majority of our group ended the phone conference with a lowered opinion of her than they began with.
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Ok, here's a detail. At one point in the novel Joan's married romantic interest is required to act as judge over a number of provincial matters. As a married man, of noble birth, he is troubled by his attraction to Joan who is living in his household as one of the help. Her intelligence stands in marked contrast to the vapid undeserved privilege that oozes out of his wife with whom he shares a loveless life. Yet it is clear that he can not be with her, both as he would have to leave his wife and because Joan is of much lower station.
With this on his mind, one of the cases set before him is that of a woman born to a lower, but still noble family who has fallen in love with a slave or peasant who serves her father. By law, she is given the choice - step down to a life of poverty and hardship but be with her love, or turn her back on him at which time he will be put to death while she will go on with her life. To his amazement, the woman chooses love and a life of hardship over letting her lover die. And he leaves on his way back home determined to declare his love to Joan and likewise walk away and into a life of destitute love.
Fortune, or rather misfortune intervenes when he returns home to find his lands ravaged by a raiding Viking horde, his family murdered, and Joan missing - likely carried off as a trophy by the raiding party. However, Joan had in fact escaped and it is at this point in the novel when she begins her life in the guise of a man, assuming the identity of her brother who was killed.
Fast forward to her ascendance to the Papal throne - Joan is nearing the point of crisis. She has been able to enact great changes as Pope, but more importantly she has been reunited with her lost romantic interest. They end up consummating their love when nature contrives to separate them from her entourage. At this point, her lover urges her to step away from the office since everyone will think she was killed in a flood, take up women's clothes and go with him to live a simple but loved filled life. But she refuses. The position of Pope is too much to leave, despite the ever-narrower escapes she has from discovery which make it obvious that it's only a matter of time until she is found out and executed. Refusing to leave her, this decision ultimately leads to his death, the death or premature birth of their love-child, and her being destroyed and erased from history.
In the discussion with the author, I asked her if it had occurred to her that she had given Joan the same choice as this previously mentioned woman and than Joan had chosen the other path? That in the first instance it had been conveyed as a virtuous choice but in Joan's case she had chosen power and privilege over love when it was clear to her that it would lead to her lover's death. She couldn't step away from it. Did that detract from her as a true hero, or possibly cast her as an anti-hero?
The author, in response, was quiet. Then said, "It sounds like you are having an interesting discussion." and dropped the subject. For the most part, her focus was to ensure everyone knew there would be a movie coming out soon based on the book and we should petition some group or other to ensure it wasn't censored when it came out. Some forces or other were trying to keep the truth about Joan buried or some such as I recall.
I understand the movie was panned and died a much deserved early death.
This book was selected by a reading group I was in a little over three years ago.
Book Description:
The novel is supposedly historical fiction and describes the ascent of a woman in the late 9th century to the office of Pope. The protagonist, Joan, enters the novel as an extremely bright, promising young woman who is crushed under the norms of the times. Her mother is of pagan decent and is an inspiration for Joan as a slightly rebellious, not quite civilized wife of a small village clergyman. Expected to marry and become a wife (good, bad, or indifferent) to a simple man, she is the beneficiary of coincidence and/or fate along with a few liberal teachers who pave the way for her to assume the life of a young man studying to join the clergy. As the title gives away, she eventually rises to become Pope John VIII. The primary theme of the book is "female empowerment", as Joan struggles against a society where her sex is little more than property to the men. At every turn, her wit and innate intelligence carry her over obstacle after obstacle as she is able to gain an education, skill, political position, and effect change.
Historical Basis
The author takes great pains in the introduction and notes at the end of the novel to assure the reader that while the novel is fiction, the character of Joan is based on a real person who lived sometime in the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church and its culture are cast as the true antagonist of the story who conspired not only against all women, but in destroying the history surrounding Pope Joan. The average reader of the book is not given a nuanced portrayal of the history and evidence for or against a potential female pope in history. Instead, it is treated as fact and spoken with the certitude that befits a story seeking to replace one dogma for another.
My Own Experience with the Novel
Our reading group consisted of mostly women who had professional backgrounds and college educations. What surprised me was how quick most of the group was to accept the narrative as history without question. This ran so deep that the few times it was questioned it turned the normally friendly atmosphere we enjoyed rather heated in the discussion. Clearly, for some the power of the story and its message was more important than the historical facts. Even more surprising to me, I realized that most members of the group were either disinclined or ill-equipped to examine the historicity of the story critically. It wasn't enough to accept the story as potentially untrue but inspirational. It was "TRUTH" and it had to be accepted as such.
You can judge for yourself whether the facts are historical, beginning with the Wiki. It turned out there was a lot of information on this, both pro and con, on the net.
My final opinion on the novel - it read like a soap opera gave birth to Forrest Gump. It was written like a romance novel which I do not care for, while the main character had all the same good fortune of Forrest Gump but without the charm that comes from his innocence.
The author of the book makes herself available to phone into reading groups. One of our group members contacted her, and she graciously accepted. We held our meeting with the author conferencing in after we had talked about 15 minutes. After the call, which lasted about a half hour, we talked for an additional hour.
It turns out that Ms. Cross was primarily interested in hearing how women were becoming empowered by the novel and less interested in discussing the novel itself. Without going into details, I think the majority of our group ended the phone conference with a lowered opinion of her than they began with.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
Ok, here's a detail. At one point in the novel Joan's married romantic interest is required to act as judge over a number of provincial matters. As a married man, of noble birth, he is troubled by his attraction to Joan who is living in his household as one of the help. Her intelligence stands in marked contrast to the vapid undeserved privilege that oozes out of his wife with whom he shares a loveless life. Yet it is clear that he can not be with her, both as he would have to leave his wife and because Joan is of much lower station.
With this on his mind, one of the cases set before him is that of a woman born to a lower, but still noble family who has fallen in love with a slave or peasant who serves her father. By law, she is given the choice - step down to a life of poverty and hardship but be with her love, or turn her back on him at which time he will be put to death while she will go on with her life. To his amazement, the woman chooses love and a life of hardship over letting her lover die. And he leaves on his way back home determined to declare his love to Joan and likewise walk away and into a life of destitute love.
Fortune, or rather misfortune intervenes when he returns home to find his lands ravaged by a raiding Viking horde, his family murdered, and Joan missing - likely carried off as a trophy by the raiding party. However, Joan had in fact escaped and it is at this point in the novel when she begins her life in the guise of a man, assuming the identity of her brother who was killed.
Fast forward to her ascendance to the Papal throne - Joan is nearing the point of crisis. She has been able to enact great changes as Pope, but more importantly she has been reunited with her lost romantic interest. They end up consummating their love when nature contrives to separate them from her entourage. At this point, her lover urges her to step away from the office since everyone will think she was killed in a flood, take up women's clothes and go with him to live a simple but loved filled life. But she refuses. The position of Pope is too much to leave, despite the ever-narrower escapes she has from discovery which make it obvious that it's only a matter of time until she is found out and executed. Refusing to leave her, this decision ultimately leads to his death, the death or premature birth of their love-child, and her being destroyed and erased from history.
In the discussion with the author, I asked her if it had occurred to her that she had given Joan the same choice as this previously mentioned woman and than Joan had chosen the other path? That in the first instance it had been conveyed as a virtuous choice but in Joan's case she had chosen power and privilege over love when it was clear to her that it would lead to her lover's death. She couldn't step away from it. Did that detract from her as a true hero, or possibly cast her as an anti-hero?
The author, in response, was quiet. Then said, "It sounds like you are having an interesting discussion." and dropped the subject. For the most part, her focus was to ensure everyone knew there would be a movie coming out soon based on the book and we should petition some group or other to ensure it wasn't censored when it came out. Some forces or other were trying to keep the truth about Joan buried or some such as I recall.
I understand the movie was panned and died a much deserved early death.