I would have to say that Pope Joan is a book you can't put down! I read it every free minute I could find. I loved it!
The author, Donna Woolfolk Cross, spent several years researching the story of Pope Joan. I would highly recommend that AFTER you read the book that you read the Author's note. She presents incredible detail about her research findings and makes substantial arguments for the existence of Pope Joan. I really feel that by reading the Author's note, you will have a far better appreciation for the story itself.
I'm not sure if many of you tend to skip the Prologue for most books. If you do, PLEASE don't skip the Prologue in this book. The Prologue will help set the tone for the first chapter and also will introduce you to characters that will be re-visited later throughout the book.
I was absorbed into the writing abilities of the author. She has a gift in being able to setup the scenes, characters and emotions of the story while providing enough detail to keep you captivated but not so much that you tire of listening. Even the smallest details that she introduced would be seamlessly woven into later chapters. No detail was left unanswered. And mostly I appreciated the lack of predictability in the story. The author will keep you guessing and hoping right to the end. The element of surprise will be gratifying in the end for you.
The ending was not the ending I had anticipated nor expected (you'll understand what I mean--no spoilers here). I thought the ending was phenomenal. For me it felt like the book had two endings. The first was with Joan and ended at the last chapter. The second ending being the Epilogue and leaving the legacy of Pope Joan. The Epilogue gives the reader closure with Pope Joan which I think becomes very necessary.
Without a doubt, the story of Pope Joan is enthralling and Donna Woolfolk Cross tells her story masterfully. I couldn't put the book down!
Don't forget to read the Author's note at the end of the book. It will be well worth your time!
In case you haven't heard or don't know already, Pope Joan has been made into a major motion picture and premiered in Berlin, Germany on October 19th! The movie was filmed in English and dubbed into German for the benefit of German and Austrian viewers. It is still unclear as to the date for the United States premiere. Donna Woolfolk Cross is currently working on obtaining permissions from the movie Producers for the English version of the movie trailer. (Note--the movie trailer below has English subtitles.)
For more information about the book or the author you can visit the author's web site at Pope Joan.
I would love to hear what your thoughts are about the book Pope Joan!
Pope Joan author comment
Congrats on your terrific website, Nikki--and thanks for the nice review of my novel, Pope Joan. You're an astute reader, for indeed I wrote the epilogue in order to end on a note of redemption; Joan may be gone, but her legacy, and her story, lives on!
One correction for your readers: the movie was filmed in English and dubbed into German for the benefit of German and Austrian viewers. I hope to be able to post the REAL trailer (that is, the one in English) on my website, popejoan.com, very soon (I have to get permission from the producers first).
Thanks again for the kind words. Readers like you make all the long hard work of book creation worthwhile!
Donna
One of my favorites!
This was one of my favorite books! I agree with Michelle in that this time period is so fascinating because it was so different. I can't imagine living in those times and am intrigued by all the details that the author included to give a complete picture. I listened to this on audiobook from audible.com (available throught this website!). It was great. I am a mother of three young children and currently starting up my own business so I don't always have time to sit down and read, even though I love to. So the audiobook made it so easy to listen to the book while doing everything i needed to do around the house and even on the road, in the car... I would highly recommend this book. The author referred to a couple of her reference books that she used for writing Pope Joan and I am going to look into reading some of those as well. It definitely peaked my curiosity into this subject of Pope Joan and the controversy surrounding it!
Pope Joan
Loved this book! Books about this time period are my favorite because life was so completely different and so about survival and instincts. It was fascinating to picture how Joan must have lived her life as a man...and then to read that the story was based on true events that were researched back to manuscripts made it that much better. I had only wished for a happier ending:)
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