Published by Doubleday, part of Transworld Publishers
Format: Hardback
£18.99
Author:
Joanne Harris
Format: Hardback
EAN: 9780385619219
£18.99
Available for dispatch within 1-2 working days
EAN: 9780385619219
Published: 24 May 2012
It isn't often you receive a letter from the dead.
When Vianne Rocher receives a letter from beyond the grave, she has no choice but to follow the wind that blows her back to Lansquenet, the village in south-west France where, eight years ago, she opened up a chocolate shop.
But Vianne is completely unprepared for what she finds there. Women veiled in black, the scent of spices and peppermint tea, and there, on the bank of the river Tannes, facing the square little tower of the church of Saint-Jerôme like a piece on a chessboard - slender, bone-white and crowned with a silver crescent moon - a minaret.
Nor is it only the incomers from North Africa that have brought big changes to the community. Father Reynaud, Vianne's erstwhile adversary, is now disgraced and under threat. Could it be that Vianne is the only one who can save him?
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Vianne - unconventional, good-hearted, slightly magical - blows in like a refreshing breeze, forcing people to question their prejudices. A delight
- The Times
Expertly crafted, typically mouthwatering
- Daily Mail
A delightful jumble of the sensuous sights, sounds and smells the author describes so well
- Glamour
Her characteristic love affair with texture – scents, smells and sounds – immerses the reader in a bath of seductive imagery in a brave and grippingly confected story
- The Sunday Times
Prepare to be transported by Joanne Harris as she revisits the characters and setting of her first bestseller, Chocolat...Deftly tackling the subject of religious intolerance, this bewitching novel stirs the senses
- Good Housekeeping (Book of the Month)
A wide-ranging, powerful and very readable novel. I loved it
- Red
Like Chocolat, this book is a feast for the senses. Every page of the book is steeped in scents, colours and tastes, without ever tipping into the pretentious or showy. The writing is seductive and engaging throughout; and the magic, too, is intrinsic without ever being soppy or embarrassing. What is magic (or religion), after all, if not an ability to understand the human heart? Peaches for Monsieur le Curé is a wonderful return to form for Harris
- Literary Review
Fasting and feasting, magic and mysticism are once again at the heart of this author's storytelling sorcery
- The Lady
Absorbing and atmospheric...Joanne bravely tackles religious differences head-on but very sensitively. It's expressive, rich, vibrant and even shocking in parts
- Heat Magazine
Exotic, thought-provoking and wonderfully told
- Woman & Home
An enchanting read, ripe for summer picking
- France Magazine
What Joanne Harris has done with this brilliant novel is to define in microcosm the religious problems that concern the world - terrorism, race riots, honour killings, the sexual grooming of teenagers - and bring them to life in a community where everyone knows each other...she provides an indictment of prejudice that is exceptionally powerful.
- Country Life
Vianne's magical chocolates and mouthwatering peach tarts offer a bridge of understanding...Harris effectively updates the Chocolat recipe, using the metaphor of food to make the weighty issues of immigration and religious tolerance more palatable.
- Miami Herald
Worth immersing yourself in the sights, sounds and smells of Lansquenet’s 200-year-old streets.
- Washington Post
Joanne Harris is the author of Chocolat (made into an Oscar-nominated film in 2000, with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp), and ten more bestselling novels. Her work is published in over fifty countries and has sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide. Born in Barnsley, of an English father and a French mother, she studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge and spent fifteen years as a teacher before (somewhat reluctantly) becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Yorkshire with her family, plays bass in a band first formed when she was sixteen, works in a shed in her garden, likes musical theatre and old sci-fi, drinks rather too much caffeine, spends far too much time online and occasionally dreams of faking her own death and going to live in Hawaii.
Harrogate International Summer Festival, Crown Hotel, Crown Place, Harrogate, HG1 2RZ
Harrogate International Summer Festival
