Overview

It isn't often you receive a letter from the dead. When Vianne Rocher receives a letter from beyond the grave, she allows the wind to blow her back to the village in south-west France where, eight years ago, she opened up a chocolate shop. But Lansquenet is different now: women veiled in black, the scent of spices and peppermint tea, and, on the bank of the river Tannes, facing the church: a minaret. Nor is it only the incomers from North Africa that have brought change. Father Reynaud, Vianne's erstwhile adversary, is disgraced and under threat. Could it be that Vianne is the only one who can save him now?

Full Product Details

Author:   Joanne Harris
Publisher:   Transworld Publishers Ltd
Imprint:   Doubleday
Dimensions:   Width: 15.30cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.602kg
ISBN:  

9780385619226

ISBN 10:   0385619227
Pages:   464
Publication Date:   24 May 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Reviews

Vianne -- unconventional, good-hearted, slightly magical -- blows in like a refreshing breeze, forcing people to question their prejudices. A delight. <br>-- The Times <br> <br> A delightful jumble of the sensuous sights, sounds and smells the author describes so well. <br>-- Glamour <br> <br> 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. <br>-- The Sunday Times

Amelia writes: Joanne Harris' latest revisits the characters and settings from Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes. Needless to say I was ridiculously excited when I heard this - I have adored everything by Joanne Harris but Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes have been particular favourites. I dare anyone to pick them up and not be entranced by the subtle magic and plotting of Vianne. In Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure Vianne receives a letter from Lansquenet, written a few years previously by the now deceased Armande Voisin. It is a letter calling her back to the sleepy village which once seemed frozen in time. The village has changed a lot in the eight years since Vianne was first there. Across the river a community of Moroccans has sprung up bringing with it the exotic scent of spices and a minaret topped building across from the church. While the people of the village all get along peaceably, inevitable cultural clashes occur among some of the more conservative members of both communities. When Vianne arrives back in Lansquenet her old nemesis, the priest Francis Reynaud, is being vilified among the villagers for his intolerance towards the Moroccans. Vianne knows she had an effect on Reynaud the last time she was in Lansquenet and doesn't necessarily believe the stories of the villagers. Set in August 2010, right before the French government outlawed the wearing of the veil, this book explores the political tensions on a much smaller scale - one small French village. It wouldn't be a Joanne Harris book without luscious descriptions of food. The contrast between the setting of Ramadan and the luscious things which Vianne cooks is wonderfully crafted. All these things aside - this book has an absolutely wonderful plot. It has been a while since I read something which gripped me like this book did. When I had to stop reading at the end of a lunch break I had to force myself to put the book down and I'd open it at the end of the work day as soon as I left the shop. The mystery of the story is revealed slowly, building to a climax so tense you'll be holding your breath as you read. While the story stands on its own, it is really better to read Chocolat & The Lollipop Shoes before Peaches. The final thing I will say is that if you've seen the movie of Chocolat and decided on this basis that you don't need to read the book, please reconsider! The feel of the book is much darker, a little more sinister than its Hollywood incarnation and so much more complex than the film.

Author Information

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.

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