Another wonderful story from Joanne Harris

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	• Blackberry Wine : A Novel Joanne Harris BLACK SWAN, 2001 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 59 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Underwhelmed...

Characters, a potential romance and story line are substantially underdeveloped. Skip this one (and skip Gentlemen & Players) and move to "Chocolat" and "Five Quarters of the Orange."

Cooking, Gardens, France - Say No More!

Half-English, half-French writer Joanne Harris is best known for writing the best-selling novel CHOCOLAT, which is a decadent treat, but her follow-up novel BLACKBERRY WINE is even more magical and showcases the love of land and gardens of both heritages. Reclusive writer Jay Mackintosh is stuck in adolescence until he invokes the memories of an elderly gardener and astral traveler who helped him out in his youth and strikes out for a ramshackle French country farm. It helps to have a bit of high school French and basic knowledge of garden plants to enjoy this sensuous novel most fully.

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Another wonderful story from Joanne Harris

BLACKBERRY WINE by Joanne Harris
August 8, 2006

Amazon Rating: 4/5 stars

In this book by Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat), the story revolves around writer Jay Mackintosh, and his search for happiness. The story is told via two time lines. The first one dates back to the 1970's, where Jay's memories take the reader back to his summers spent in a place that was known as Pog Hill in England. Out of these memories came his groundbreaking novel, JACKAPPLE JOE, based on the man that eventually became a mentor to him. Joe and Jay had a very unusual relationship, as Joe was much older but wiser and told Jay of his travels around the world, teaching Jay all about plants and healing and the magical power of herbs.

The second time line takes us to the present, when Jay has decided on a whim to purchase a cottage in a village in France that he believes is where Joe used to live, leaving his long time girlfriend Kerry without much of a warning. His relationship with Kerry is one sided, and he feels claustrophobic. Kerry really has no idea what is going on in Jay's mind, but she has a need to fix him and wants him to write that sequel to that great novel he is now known for.

The 1970's time line is one of nostalgia but it also has a big influence on Jay's present life, where he is filled with regret for losing track of Joe, a man that he took for granted as a boy, but now realizes that Joe meant the world to him. However, Jay thinks he's losing his mind as Joe begins to appear to Jay once he moves into the old cottage in the French village, and Jay's relationship with Joe begins anew.

Throughout the story, a series of wine bottles known as THE SPECIALS are always in the background, giving a sense of magic and surrealism to the story, as is common in all Joanne Harris novels. The Specials react to Jay's actions, and act as harbingers to what may happen next.

Jay's life takes a turn when he moves to the cottage, as he gains a new motivation to write that second novel. He also becomes curious about his neighbor, a woman who is known to covet his land and whose daughter is known to the village as deaf and dumb. But Jay knows there has to be a story here, and after he's learned a lot about the other villagers who become sources of potential characters in his new novel, he can't get a grasp on the mysterious Marise.

As always, I enjoyed this novel by Joanne Harris very much. The book started out at a slow pace, as the story is set up, but once I got the rhythm of the time lines, the book moved faster. This is a good read for all fans of Joanne Harris and readers of good fiction.

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Joanne Harris at her best

Jay Mackintosh is a writer suffering from writer's block for as long as he can remember. Between a rock and a hard place, he is desperate for a way out. A way out of London, a way out of meaningless social activity, a girlfriend who doesn't understand, a life disconnected from anything with any true value and ostensibly heading nowhere.

And he finds his way out. Knowing Joanne Harris, where else would that happen but in a remote, isolated village somewhere in the French countryside, a place suspended between past and present, a place that will allow him to rediscover the magic he thought long lost.

Joanne Harris' writing is magical in its own right, and if you are already a fan, this book is one of her best. If you're not, this book will be sure to make you one.

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Loved this book!

I really loved this book. It has a truly magical quality to it, and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read her next book. Thank you to a great author and storyteller. It is a great book to take traveling especially for those long waits at the airport or train station. Time just flies by!

reviews: 1, page 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

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