Author Love

I have hardly reviewed any of her books on this blog, but if I had, they would get nines and tens all around. You may have heard of Chocolat, and you may have watched the film (made more wonderful by the acting efforts of Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, not to mention a few other recognisable faces), but have you ever read the book?

Have you guessed who it is yet? Joanne Harris is the author I am giving love to today, because she is an utter marvel. Her books are wonderfully emotive, flawlessly descriptive and very distinctive. She will never give you the same book twice, and none of her stories seem to be regurgitated from other authors. She can write about murderers, online messaging, vampires, norse mythology and food, and make it all enthralling.

But enough gush, the real way to show you all what an incredible writer she is, is to give you a few quotes from her books, my favourite books.

Chocolat: 
'Nests of spun caramel with hard-shelled sugar eggs, each topped with a triumphantly plump chocolate hen; piebald rabbits heavy with gilded almonds stand in rows, ready to be wrapped and boxed; marzipan creatures march across the shelves.'

Blackberry Wine:
'The wasp crawled thickly against the glass, it's wings were clotted with syrup. He thought he could hear the insect inside the bottle. buzzing in a growing frenzy, but perhaps that was the wine itself calling, its hot bright scent distressing the air.'

Five Quarters of the Orange:
'This is something different again. A feeling of peace. The feeling you get when a recipe turns out perfectly right, a perfectly risen souffle, a  flawless sauce hollandaise. It's a feeling which tells me that any woman can be beautiful in the eyes of a man who loves her.'

As you can probably tell, my favourites are the foodie one, but I have to say that Gentlemen and Players is also an exceptional read. The story is intense and intriguing, leaving you hanging on a thread to find out how the book will finally fit together.

If you do one thing this year, pick up a Joanne Harris book and give it a read.

Peaches for Monsieur le Cure - Joanne Harris

The third book in Joanne Harris's Chocolat series promises another beautifully written adventure from Lanquenet-sous-Tannes.

It has been 8 years since Vianne Rocher left Lansquenet, and things have changed drastically. Les Marauds now houses a huge population of Magrebins, and the minaret of their Mosque looms above the houses. The catholic church is in disarray, and Reynaud is in trouble. And then there is Ines Bencharki, whose prescence in the village distrubs everyone - French and Muslim alike.

One of the most wonderful things about Harris's writing is the way that her characters are so realistic and compelling. Vianne Rocher is a much-loved character who we can really sympathise with, and it is brilliant that the author has once again given her legions of readers another story with her in it. The writing style is also exactly what we have come to expect from Joanne Harris. Her decriptions caress your senses and the plot is just fast enough to  keep your interest without becoming actiony.

The plot and the ending will keep you on your toes. The plot builds slowly but keeps forming questions in your head, but the cresendo is fast and keeps you turning the pages. There are a couple of lovely twists in there too; the mystery surrounding Ines Bencharki is interesting and it is only revealed at the very end of the book. You never guess who she is until she tells you, and her story is compelling, startling and emotional.

The themes of this book are interesting too. There is a lot of emphasis on religion, which is a theme she has delved into before in 'Holy Fools' and in 'Chocolat'. A theme that recurs in the series is prejudice, as the people of the village seem to have so many of these, this time against an unmarried woman with a child. Sound familiar?

However, this book was not quite as engrossing as the first two. There is not as much 'magic' and  it is not as much to do with the food as to do with the people of the village this time. Hardcore Harris fans may miss this, but for the rest of the population, this will be an excellent book full of human interest.

For the most impact, read the first two books. References to the past are plentiful, so if you havn't read them, chances are that you won't get the whole picture or why certain things are so distressing.

Even though the plot isn't quite as enchanting as the other two, this book still gets an 8 out of 10 from me. My favourite is still 'The Lollipop Shoes'.

Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris is one of my all time favourite authors. She wrote the beautiful, sensuous book that is 'Chocolat', and it's sequel, 'The Lollipop Shoes', which is equally as wonderful.

A lot of her books are set in France: Les Laveuses, Lansquenet sous Tannes, Les Salants. I find this very interesting as a lot of her books have something to do with food. From Chocolate to Wine and Oranges, Joanne Harris is exceedingly good at describing the food in such a way that the reader salivates at the thought and longs for the taste.

Not only does Harris write about food, she also has written some short stories as well as some psychological thrillers. I particularly enjoyed her first book, 'The Evil Seed', which is about a man who rescues a mysterious and strangely eerie woman from drowning, who then goes on to torment him throughout his life. I won't give away the ending though, just in case you want to read it.

I have recently finished 'Five Quarters of the Orange', a book about a widow named Framboise, who comes back to Les Laveuses, her childhood home, with a dark secret in tow.

The blurb reads:
Beyond the main street of Les Laveuses runs the Loire, smooth and brown as a sunning snake - but hiding a deadly undertow beneath it's moving surface. This is where Framboise, a secretive widow named after a raspberry liqueur, plies her culinary trade at the creperie - and lets her memory play strange games.#

Again, this book is a writing triumph for Harris, whose descriptions of places, food and people never fail to disappoint me. The story was slow to start, but after a couple of pages I was hooked. The beauty of her storytelling is as apparent here as it is in the highly acclaimed 'Chocolat'. There are twists and turns that even I, as an avid fan, did not guess at.

The end, although quick, was done quite neatly and answered all of my questions - something I like in everything that I read or watch. Her character development, too, is exquisite. It feels like I know all her characters intimately after I finish a book, which means a happy ending makes me happy, again, something i personally prefer.

Overall this is a perfect portrayal of a childhood in wartime France as well the workings of an old woman and her family history of betrayal. It is dark, perhaps the darkest out of her food trilogy ('Chocolat' and 'Blackberry Wine' being the other two), but I know it will never leave me, as with all her books so far.

The cover, Five Quarters of the Orange