By the bestselling author of Chocolat, a passionate story of love, nuns and witches, set in 17th-century France.
Joanne Harris is the internationally renowned and award-winning
author of over twenty novels. Her Whitbread-shortlisted novel
Chocolat was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and
Johnny Depp. She is the author of several other bestsellers,
including The Lollipop Shoes, Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure and The
Strawberry Thief. She has also written acclaimed novels in such
diverse genres as fantasy based on Norse myth (Runemarks,
Runelight, The Gospel of Loki), and the Malbry cycle of dark
psychological thrillers (Gentlemen & Players, Blueeyedboy, and
Different Class).
Born in Barnsley, of an English father and a French mother, she
spent fifteen years as a teacher before (somewhat reluctantly)
becoming a full-time writer. In 2013, she was awarded an MBE, and
in 2022 an OBE. She lives in Yorkshire, plays bass and flute in a
band first formed when she was sixteen, and works in a shed in her
garden. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College,
Cambridge, and served for four years as Chair of the Society of
Authors. She also has a form of synaesthesia which enables her to
smell colours. Red, she says, smells of chocolate.
Truly sensational... This is a wonderful novel. It draws you in
from the very first page
*Sunday Express*
A weird and hugely enjoyable blend of Aldous Huxley's The Devils of
Loudon and Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus
*New Statesman*
With this bold, inventive book, Harris confirms her position as one
of Britain's most popular novelists... Fans will be delighted by
the way this novel complements her earlier works. At the same time,
the author's experiments with structure and voice ensure this story
is fresh and compelling
*Daily Mail*
Hugely enjoyable... Both consoling and wise
*New Statesman*
With this bold, inventive book, Harris confirms her position as one
of Britain's most popular novellists... Fresh and compelling
*Daily Mail*
"Love not often, but forever" is an adage with dangerous implications for Juliette, a gypsy acrobat in 17th-century France who strives to balance her wild yearnings with her hard-won wisdom in this passionate novel from the author of Chocolat and Five Quarters of the Orange. Harris gave hints in the latter novel of a darker sensibility, and she fully indulges that inclination here, broodingly exploring the mechanics of mass hysteria and the clash between the desires of the flesh and spiritual cravings. Juliette's involving narration alternates with the amoral reflections of her rogue lover, Guy LeMerle, the Blackbird ("He lived on perpetual credit and never went to church"). LeMerle is the leader of Juliette's troupe, which is disbanded after a clash with a town's authorities; at the same time, LeMerle abandons the pregnant Juliette, who is persecuted as a witch. Five years later, Juliette, now called Soeur Auguste, and her daughter, Fleur, have found refuge at the Abbey of Sainte-Marie-de-la-mer on the Brittany coast. Then LeMerle arrives at the abbey disguised as Father Confessor to the newly appointed abbess, Isabelle, a preternaturally severe girl of 12 whose uncle happens to be LeMerle's nemesis, the bishop of ?vreux. Isabelle causes Fleur to be removed from the abbey, and while Juliette struggles to get her back, LeMerle manipulates the nuns into believing Satan has their convent in thrall, in a complicated plot to revenge himself on the bishop. This fictional cassoulet suggests Aldous Huxley's nonfiction work The Devils of Loudun, with "demonically" possessed nuns caught in a web of sexual repression and political and religious oppression during an era of upheaval in France. Harris adds spicy characterizations, tart dark humor and seductively pungent prose, and poses some provocative questions: can 65 nuns be so easily misled? why does Juliette find herself drawn to such a selfish man? The title supplies an answer with almost unholy glee. (Feb. 3) Forecast: Readers looking for another Chocolat will be disappointed, but those who appreciate Harris's storytelling skills and enjoy fiction with a gothic twist will love this. Eight-city author tour. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Truly sensational... This is a wonderful novel. It draws you in
from the very first page * Sunday Express *
A weird and hugely enjoyable blend of Aldous Huxley's The Devils
of Loudon and Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus * New
Statesman *
With this bold, inventive book, Harris confirms her position as one
of Britain's most popular novelists... Fans will be delighted by
the way this novel complements her earlier works. At the same time,
the author's experiments with structure and voice ensure this story
is fresh and compelling * Daily Mail *
Hugely enjoyable... Both consoling and wise -- Amanda Craig * New
Statesman *
With this bold, inventive book, Harris confirms her position as one
of Britain's most popular novellists... Fresh and compelling *
Daily Mail *
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