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Title details for The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse - Available

The Book of the Maidservant

by Rebecca Barnhouse
Susan Duerden
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
“A funny and wise book about friendship, loyalty, and love.”—Karen Cushman
Johanna is a servant girl to Dame Margery Kempe, a renowned medieval holy woman. Dame Margery feels the suffering the Virgin Mary felt for her son but cares little for the misery she sees every day. When she announces that Johanna will accompany her on a pilgrimage to Rome, the suffering truly begins. After walking all day, Johanna must fetch water, wash clothes, and cook for the entire party of pilgrims. Then arguing breaks out between Dame Margery and the other travelers, and Johanna is caught in the middle. As the fighting escalates, Dame Margery turns her back on the whole group, including Johanna. Abandoned in a foreign land where she doesn’t even speak the language, the young maidservant must find her own way to Rome.
Inspired by the fifteenth-century text The Book of Margery Kempe, the first autobiography in English, debut novelist Rebecca Barnhouse chronicles Johanna’s painful journey through fear, anger, and physical hardship to ultimate redemption.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 27, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780739385562
      • File size: 194197 KB
      • Duration: 06:44:34

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • ATOS Level: 5
    • Lexile® Measure: 800
    • Interest Level: 6-12(MG+)
    • Text Difficulty: 3-4

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Set in the fifteenth century, this intriguing tale takes listeners along as Johanna and her mistress, Dame Margery, leave England and join a group of pilgrims walking across Europe (including the Alps) on their way to Rome. Narrator Susan Duerden handles all the voices with panache--from Latin-speaking students to the group bully to snooty Dame Margery--while putting listeners squarely in the head and heart of Johanna, the maidservant. Pious Dame Margery turns out to be capricious and inconsiderate, for all her talk of conversing with the Virgin Mary, and Johanna is left to do the cooking, washing, and mending for the whole group. This is a vivid coming-of-age story, and Duerden is a real find as a narrator: warm, versatile, and real. M.M.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      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.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5
  • Lexile® Measure:800
  • Interest Level:6-12(MG+)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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