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A review by lattelibrarian
Ironhead, or, Once a Young Lady by Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem
5.0
Stance is not your average maiden. Uncouth, brazen, and full of life, she actively rejects the role placed upon her in Napoleonic France and by her parents. But when her parents are in dire need of financial support, she's married off to her father's business partner--a man more than twice her age. To be fair, she thinks to herself, he is a wealthy man and she wants for nothing. Other girls from her village envy her. Too bad Stance doesn't want this life. She steals away in the middle of the night, and takes a neighbor's place in the army. There, she struggles with concealing her true identity...and struggles when she realizes her annoying little brother is on her tail to bring her back.
Though at first difficult to get into (I'm not normally one for historical fiction, but I do love me some Mulan and Joan of Arc narratives), this ended up being a fantastic read that I was absolutely enthralled with. From Stance's struggle with the standards placed upon her sex, to the horrors of war, to trying to understand her family, van Rijckeghem ensures a forceful and powerful understanding of Stance's predicaments that are sure to engage.
Though at first difficult to get into (I'm not normally one for historical fiction, but I do love me some Mulan and Joan of Arc narratives), this ended up being a fantastic read that I was absolutely enthralled with. From Stance's struggle with the standards placed upon her sex, to the horrors of war, to trying to understand her family, van Rijckeghem ensures a forceful and powerful understanding of Stance's predicaments that are sure to engage.