Five Quarters of the Orange |
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Joanne Harris
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Pages: 368 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0552998834
Pub: Black Swan
Pub date: 2002-01-01
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 5101
Editorial Review:
Joanne Harris' sensational novel Five Quarters of the Orange revolves around a recipe book, continuing the theme of culinary intrigue begun in Chocolat and Blackberry Wine. Framboise, the middle-aged narrator, begins her story in Les Laveuses, on the banks of the Loire:
When my mother died she left the farm to my brother, Cassis, the fortune in the wine cellar to my sister, Reine-Claude, and to me, the youngest, her album and a two-litre jar containing a single black Perigord truffle.Framboise returns to the village where she grew up during wartime, and with the help of the recipes scribbled in her mother's album, opens up a small restaurant. However, she is desperate to keep her identity a secret even amongst the aged villagers with whom she played on the banks of the Loire in the years of German occupation during the Second World War. Framboise immerses herself once again in the peaceful rhythms of village life, pungently evoked by Harris's evocative prose. But slowly, reluctantly, Framboise begins to unravel the terrible wartime secret that drove her family away from the village. As she cuts between idyllic descriptions of the village and the increasingly dark memories of the war, Framboise admits:
I know, I know. You want me to get to the point. But this is at least as important as the rest, the method of telling, and the time taken to tell. It has taken me fifty-five to begin, at least let me do it in my own way.This could be a description of Harris's prose itself, as it slowly and deliberately cuts between Framboise's fragile present and her happy childhood, destroyed by the tragic innocence of youth. Although Five Quarters of the Orange finds Harris on familiar ground to Chocolat, this is a much darker and compelling novel of childhood nostalgia and betrayal, and the need to confront the tragedies of the past before they destroy the possibilities of a happier future. --Jerry Brotton
Reader Reviews:
Yummy (0/0 people found this helpful)
An absolute delight, really scrumptious to read, but beware do not read on an empty stomach you'll be yearning for the food that Framboise cooks up in this book. Set in a sleepy town on the Loire, Framboise or Boise as she is know narrates the tale of her younger days through her mother's cookbook that was left to her after she passed away. It is probably one of Joanne Harris' darkest novels, but her most beautiful in my opinion. She paints the french countryside with such vivid and beautiful descriptions that its easy to find yourself yearning for a small cottage in rustic France. Set against the back drop of World War 2 and present day, Boise is a rebellious youngster with a desire to catch the mythical pike 'Old Mother' that lives in the darkest parts of the Loire, something to occupy her whilst her older brother and sister attend school in a nearby town. The story takes place over a summer, where love is discovered, innocence is lost and heartbreak changes the lives of all involved. Stunning!
ok (0/0 people found this helpful)
this wasn't as good as I'd expected from the reviews. I couldn't warm to the characters and the main character Framboise was quite awful, without any redeeming qualities and rather frightening. Don't expect the warm sensuality of chocolat. Despite this I did want to get to the end so the story did have something to keep me interested.
Brilliant! (1/1 people found this helpful)
One of the most rewarding books that I have ever read- at times moving, funny and intense; a brilliantly woven tapestry combining love, real, raw characters and the bitter, sad resentment of a child for a mother that she cannot understand. Complicated, touching and an incredibly enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone.
A lovely experience (2/2 people found this helpful)
As usual Joanne Harris writes with the succulence of the undoubted pleasure of eating! Five Quarters is a lovely story and the character Framboise is lovingly created and portrayed, a young girl who makes friends with A German soldier in hiding in occupied France.
Delicious!! (4/4 people found this helpful)
This was the 1st Joanne Harris book, and I have to say I was absolutely addicted to her books. Have read all her books, and this one is even better than Blackberry Wine or Chcocolate. The word that comes to my mind to describe this book is "magical". Joanne Harris is a wonderful writer, at a point I could swear I almost felt the scent of that orange...
I can't wait for her next two books, due to next month and August!
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Authors, A-Z -> H -> Harris, Joanne
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards -> Popular Fiction
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards -> Women’s Popular Fiction
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)