Blackberry Wine

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Joanne Harris

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Pages: 409 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0385600593

Pub: Doubleday

Pub date: 2000-03-02

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 524540

Editorial Review:

Joanne Harris weaves spells of "everyday magic" once again in Blackberry Wine. Her previous novel, Chocolat, was a delicious confection, melding together bewitchment and romance in a chocolatier, in the sleepy French village of Lansquenet. This time around six bottles of home-made brew are the catalyst for her "layman's alchemy." The story is even told by a Fleurie 1962: "A pert, garrulous wine, cheery and a little brash, with a pungent taste of blackcurrant!"
Jay Mackintosh, once a literary star, is stalled. He spends his time writing second rate science fiction, leading a hollow media life and drinking: "Not to forget, but to remember, to open up the past and find himself there again." Nice, expensive wines don't do the trick, it's the six "Specials", a gift from Joe, an old friend, that are the magical elixir. Just like Proust's lime blossom tea, they give him the gift of his memories but also unlock his future; Jay escapes the rut of his London life and buys a house in Lansquenet.
As Jay settles in, he contemplates his childhood friendship with Joe, who made the Specials and whose idiosyncratic outlook on life was the inspiration for his only successful book. Jay becomes involved in village life, meeting up with some familiar characters from Chocolat. Caro and Toinette, the snooty troublemakers, make an appearance and Josephine, the bar owner and battered wife of the earlier novel, becomes a real friend. But it is a new character, the enigmatic Marise that becomes the real focus of his attention. It's the lure of her story that really changes his life, re-ignites the flare of his work.

The book is hugely enjoyable. Joanne Harris' Lansquenet is fast becoming a fairy tale destination, where daydreams become enchantingly possible. Joanne Harris's prose in Blackberry Wine adds to the spell. It's warm and heady, an intoxicating read. --Eithne Farry

Reader Reviews:

Magical! (1/1 people found this helpful)

I have read 'Chocolat', 'Sleep Pale Sister' and 'Gentleman and Players' by Joanne Harris and enjoyed them all. 'Blackberry Wine' definitely did not let the side down. The tale is told by a bottle of very special wine and this alone makes the story intriguing, mysterious and different. A tale of childhood memories and special friendships unfolds and impacts into present day. As with many of the author's books, a little bit of magic makes events take an unexpected turn and the bottles of 'special' wine rattle with excitement in their hiding place.......

Magical and inspring! (7/9 people found this helpful)

Being a Joanne Harris fan I was really looking forward to reading this book, and I am so pleased I did. Being a wine drinker myself it had me wanting to open up a bottle, and I have even started to call mine 'Specials!' LOL.

The book is about friendship between an old man Joe Cox and a teenage boy Jay Mackintosh. How Jay looks up to Joe and he learns about the magic in Joes life, and how Joe lives. Joe is connected to the magic of nature. and this facinates Jay.

Joe loves to make wine, and in later life Jay has some of these 'Specials', as he drinks them memories of the past rise and a journey begins. I won't go on about the story more than I have, as this story truly is magical.

In the book a bottle of wine begins to tell the story, this I felt was a great way to start the book. I have no problem with reading about an inanimate object talking, and I found it to be interesting and original. I have read that it put a small minority of other people off the book, but don't let other peoples opinions sway you. I highly recommend this book.

I could relate to some of the things in this book, with me being someone who respects nature and also believes in magic. Another thing I loved about this book, is some of the charaters from Joanne's book 'Chocolat' are in this book too, as some of this book is set in the French town of Lansquenet.

For me the book was a wonderful read, it tugged at my emotions, and I felt as though I was looking through Jays eyes, feeling his happiness, and his sadness.

A fabulous book to sit down and unwind with, the sort of book you sit down snuggled up on your bed, or by the fire and read.

My Verdict: Magical and inspring!

Delicious! (9/9 people found this helpful)

An absolute gem of a book! At least as good as "Chocolat", which is one of my all time favourites.

Blackberry wine-a nostalgic ,cheeky little number! (11/11 people found this helpful)

I have read and re-read this book ,thoroughly enjoying it afresh each time. Don't be put off by the unusual beginning with bottles of wine seemingly talking to one another. Read on. The story starts with a struggling author,Jay Macintosh trying to recapture his early literary success. There are many flashbacks to his lonely childhood and his friendship with Jackapple Joe,a fantastic character. Jackapple Joe is an elderly ex-miner,dedicated to his garden and his specials and full of mystical, homespun wisdom. Jay feels driven to leave everything behind to live in France where Joe's influence and alchemy is still potent and where he helps Jay resolve his struggle.
A lovely book, told with great skill and poignancy. I suppose it's a modern day "Cider with Rosie" but so much better than that. Delightful!

Back to Chocolat (10/10 people found this helpful)

I'm totally fascinated. Blackberry Wine is yeat an other wonderful Joanne Harris-book. I love them. This time it is writer Jay Makintosh who has to make up with his past involving the betrayal of an old friend. Harris keeps writing about the same themes in book after book. But that's really nothing negative. It's great. There definitely is a great bit of nostalgia over her books.

Besides haunting pasts one of her themes is small villages and the speciall kind of societys they make. Everybody knows everybody and that's very bad when you are excluded, but when yua are included it's really great. An interesting thing about Backberry Wine is that it is set in the sam small village, Lansquenet, where Harris' most famous book Chocolat is set. We do actually meet the same characters again, and only the main charcters are different. So as always, Harris is a master of describing "the French idyl". This time, however, a importatnt part of the book is set in England. Maybe England and France aren't so differnt after all. Well...

As for the symbolism. Harris is a master of that also. Blackberry wine reveals secrets. There's a gret deal of magic over it, just like over the chocolate in Chocolat. Blackberry wine is something mysterious, but this time not dangerous like the oranges in Five Qarters of an Orange. It rather stands for safety and comfort, being what Jay has left of his old friend Joe.

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