The Book of the Maidservant

January 11, 2010
Inspired by the life of the medieval religious mystic Margery Kempe, first-time novelist Barnhouse imagines the life of the maidservant who accompanied her on a pilgrimage from Lynn, England, to Rome. Thirteen-year-old Johanna has been hired out to Dame Margery, who hears the Lord's voice and feels the Virgin Mary's suffering so deeply that it brings her to daily bouts of weeping. A likeable and believable narrator, Johanna also suffersâwith aching longings for her family and their life togetherâbut does her best to serve her ill-tempered mistress and to endure the hardships of the pilgrimage. These prove especially harsh, as she finds herself obliged to serve the other pilgrims, as well: a varied lot of holy and not-so-holy characters, including a warmhearted university student on whom she develops a crush. Maintaining her fortitude and fighting her homesickness are Johanna's greatest ordeals, until she suddenly must flee alone to Rome and the drama quickens. Barnhouse adeptly weaves the gritty details of medieval life into an engaging, adventure-filled story. Ages 10â13.

November 1, 2009
Gr 7-10-Stories about pilgrimage have caught the imagination of readers since the days of Chaucer, and this one is based on the "The Book of Margery Kempe", from the early 1400s and considered to be the first autobiography published in English. Barnhouse creates a lively protagonist in the character of Johanna, Lady Margery's serving girl. Unnamed and much maligned in the medieval account, Johanna takes on a life of her own here, recounting the hardships of the journey as she accompanies her difficult and loudly pious mistress to Rome. The sights, sounds, and deprivations of travel in the late Middle Agesblistered feet, bug-infested beds, rain-soaked wool cloaks, moldy foodare all brought vividly to life along with the unlikely traveling companions who band together for protection but are constantly on one another's nerves. Above all, the story is Johanna's, and it constantly points out the vulnerability of a peasant girl whose survival depends in equal parts on luck, wit, and exhausting labor. In the end, she reveals a few secrets of her own character that will have today's young readers feeling a kinship with her. Pair this story with Kevin Crossley-Holland's "Crossing to Paradise" (Scholastic, 2008), include it in a unit on the medieval world or "The Canterbury Tales", or simply suggest it as a rousing adventure tale and coming-of-age story."Connie C. Rockman, Stratford Library Association, CT"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2009
Grades 6-8 Written from the point of view of a servant girl, this first novel begins in fifteenth-century England. Less than a year after entering the service of Dame Margery, a difficult woman known for her religious fervor and her loud, public outbursts of crying, young Johanna joins her mistress on a pilgrimage bound for Rome. After sailing to the continent, they walk with a group of travelers across France, through the Alps, and into Italy, where Dame Margery takes off on her own and abandons hardworking Johanna. The authors note explains that the novel is based on The Book of Margery Kempe (a fifteenth-century work, called the first autobiography written in English), but written from the point of view of the unnamed maidservant. The novels structure is more episodic than most, and, though Johanna is a sympathetic character, the most involving part of her narrative is the portrayal of the difficult journey. Recommended for readers fascinated by details of medieval life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
Barnhouse, inspired by Dame Margery Kempe's fifteenth-century autobiography detailing her religious pilgrimage to Rome, here tells the servant's side of the story. Filled with vivid descriptions of medieval life and superbly researched, the story succeeds in creating a feisty heroine who accurately reflects her time period while still engaging readers today.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2009
Ah, the feisty medieval heroine! What a challenge it is to make sure this popular historical fiction trope accurately reflects her time period while still engaging readers today. Happily, Barnhouse succeeds with Johanna, the title character of her debut novel, a response of sorts to Dame Margery Kempe's complaints about her maidservant in Kempe's fifteenth-century autobiography. Barnhouse decided to tell the servant's side of the story. So from the very first page ("My mistress says you mustn't stare into the fire lest the devil look out at you from the flames. 'He'll see into your soul,' she says") we learn from Johanna just how dotty Dame Margery is, weeping and wailing ostentatiously in her religious fervor as she decides to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Joining a disparate group of travelers, mistress and servant make their way across the English Channel, through Europe and across the Alps, heading for Rome. As befits a girl of her time and station, Johanna does as she is told, expressing her thoughts only to readers. And through these we get to know Johanna and root for her as she suffers physical hardship, emotional abuse, and betrayal and makes her way through one trial after another. Filled with vivid descriptions of medieval life, engagingly written, and superbly researched, The Book of the Maidservant is a compelling read.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)