"Joan of Arkansas"
Sarah Robsdottir, Voyage Comics and Publishing (2025)
370 pages, $14.99
The title of Sarah Robsdottir's new young adult novel, "Joan of Arkansas," reminds one of the clever word plays some writers employ to draw attention to their creations. While the choice of title can be seen as a literary conceit, in Robsdottir's case it's more of a salute to the author's life-long regard for St. Joan of Arc, who became one of the first of female saints worthy of emulation and inspiration.
"Joan" of Arkansas in this story is Joanie Smith, a 16-year-old unpopular high school student who overcomes a range of hardships, in her Little Rock, Arkansas community, to find grace and redemption for herself and those dear to her.
The narrative revolves around Joanie's almost superhuman efforts to support a neglectful mother and vulnerable faith-filled grandmother in the face of stifling poverty and community ostracism.
Although the protagonist Joanie seems too good to be true at times, the reader comes to admire her perseverance and dedication to moral integrity.
Robsdottir makes no secret of her admiration for St. Joan of Arc as a role model and mentor for her protagonist. The narrative contains several parallels between the fictional Joanie and the 15th century saint in their respective struggles to extend love and mercy towards those who would do them harm.
However there is much more than word play in Robsdottir's use of the Little Rock setting and in creating the link between her protagonist and the French heroine and saint.
"I set the story in Little Rock because it's the capital of Arkansas, and I was really in love with the title Joan of Arkansas," Robsdottir said in a recent interview.
"The title evokes so much, but especially, a modern-day St. Joan of Arc," she said. "Also, Little Rock, like many small, southern American cities, has been hard hit by the opioid crisis. There was also the fact that I could weave in a little colorful southern culture, which is something I'm a fan of since I used to live in Nashville."
Although "Joan of Arkansas" can be seen as a coming-of-age story, it also carries a strong pro-life message. It turns out Joanie's single mother Maggie is a recovering heroin addict who came close to aborting her daughter. It was only through the intercession of Maggie's mother (and Joanie's grandmother), that the abortion was thwarted and Joanie was allowed to be born at all.
This book features a compelling subplot involving a character: Dr. Rio, a former nun whose religious order closes due to declining religious vocations. Rio takes up a new career as principal of Joanie's Catholic high school and as the volunteer-manager of a run-down but much-needed shelter for the homeless in Little Rock.
Although Dr. Rio has great sympathy for the poor and dispossessed, she begins to think of abortion as a preferable option for young pregnant women in distress.
As Dr. Rio witnesses the squalor and suffering all around, her thoughts on the sanctity of life take a turn for the worse: "It's an unwanted feeling similar to the revulsion she (Dr. Rio) has felt for (shelter occupant) Misty and kids like her over the years. Dr. Rio would stare down with disdain at their malnourished bodies, their heads jumping with lice and dirty fingernails, while at the same time preaching about loving the poor."
While Dr. Rio eventually rejects her abortion championing and returns to a right to life position, her dilemma elicits sympathy from even the most dedicated pro-life activist.
As Robsdottir explained in her discussion of her morally troubled character, "I didn't intend Dr. Rio's character to represent or symbolize any one group of people specifically. Rather, I tried to create a character that many of us could relate to -- someone who started off with a lot of faith and fervor but who got beat down by the hard blows of life."
"I wanted the reader to be challenged by the fact that this pro-choice liberal was doing a lot of good in the world -- running a homeless shelter and a Catholic school," she said. "I think it's important that characters aren't boring archetypes; that they aren't 'good' or 'bad' but complex creatures on a journey."
This is Robsdottir's second young adult novel after her successful debut work "Brave Water" in 2022. There is a powerful message of perseverance and commitment in these two books especially in the face of hardships that would test the patience of even the most dedicated follower of Christ.
"Joan of Arkansas" especially presents a call to heroic sacrifice as a way not only to cope with everyday trials and tribulations, but also to win salvific grace.
Robsdottir does an effective job of creating in the narrative a series of dreary tableaus suggesting that bearing Christian witness and looking to extend grace are possible in the most difficult of circumstances.
"I wrote this story to shed light on the most pressing human rights/social justice issue of our day," she said. "My aim is to inspire the reader to live a heroic life like Joan of Arc and Joanie - not to make anyone feel judged or condemned."
Mike Mastromatteo is a writer, editor and book reviewer from Toronto.
Caption: This is the cover of "Joan of Arkansas" by Sarah Robsdottir. (OSV News photo/Voyage Comics & Publishing)
