Sparks fly when fire meets fire!

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	• Holy Fools : A Novel (P.S.) Joanne Harris, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Everyone has secrets

The novel is set during the summer of 1610 in France. It is told mainly in narrative form by Juliette, with some additional narration by Guy LaMerle, and some dialog among characters. There are flashbacks to earlier times in Juliette's life, a final chapter set in 1611, and an epilogue.

Juliette had grown up in a family of gypsies traveling the countryside in France. She learned reading, writing, and languages, but also some useful skills ranging from herbal medicines to hunting rabbits to picking pockets. When she was 14, their caravans were attacked by intolerant people in the countryside, and the people scattered. She joins a travelling troupe of entertainers as l'Ailee, "The Winged One", but this is a time of intolerant superstition, charges of witchcraft, and inquisitions and burning at the atake. When the troupe in turn is attacked, she seeks refuge in an Abbey, disguising herself as a widow. After the birth of her daugher Fleur, she takes vows as Soeur Aguste.

All is well until LaMerle, leader of the troupe of entertainers, shows up again in her life, disguised as a priest. Chance events have brought various people back together, but maybe not entirely chance. Some people seek revenge for past wrongs. To use an old expression, revenge is a dish best served cold, and LsMerle has secrets in his past and an obsession to get even. There are some surprises. The pot is stirred and many things come to the top as events are brought to a boil. Juliette must step into her past to give a final performance.

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A great read

The plot is already well summarized above. I just wanted to add my two cents worth, and that is that this book is a great read.

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Disappointing

My biggest issue with this book is the fact that the main character seems so thoroughly one-dimensional. Her daughter, rather than being her driving reason for being (compare to the firece motherhood themes in Chocolat) serves only as a plot device - the main character is forced to remain witness to terrible events because her daughter is held captive. But this captivity is false and unreasonable. The villain holding the girl from her mother is seduced by the mother, not - as you might imagine - to gain vital information on the daughter's whereabout in order that they may flee, but rather because the mother is still haunted by some strange fascination for this man, despite his numerous sins against her.

Honestly, this is not written from a mother's perspective and I think it would have been better to employ another literary method to force the main character's presence. Vianne (Chocolat) would have fought hell and high water to rescue her little girl; the presented idea here of bidding time quietly rather than escaping with my girl in the dead of night is jarring and unrealistic to me.

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Sparks fly when fire meets fire!

When a book refuses to be put down, I know that reading it is time well spent. The story did not lag at any point and every thing made sense in the end. It's a story of love, betrayal, and reconciliation. After devilish LeMerle betrays the fiery Juliette, she was sure that she never wanted to see him again. Pregnant and alone, she joins a convent and for 5 years lived in peace until LeMerle shows up, posing a priest and confessor to the abbey's new abbess. I love the way Ms. Harris can keep me wondering about what secret LeMerle is keeping. I was on pins and needles as Juliette tried to figure out what he was up to. LeMerle is the bad boy that every woman loves and as a priest, he got the nuns at the abbey at his beck and call. Except for Juliette. But he devises a plan to force her compliance with his plans to humiliate the Bishop of Evreux, the abbey's sponsor. Juliette is determined to thwart his plans and all hell breaks loose. Who would think that so much excitement can go on in a abbey?

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

In the year 1605, a young, pregnant widow seeks sanctuary at the Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer. After the birth of her daughter, she takes up the veil, and a new name, Soeur Auguste. But the peace she has found is shattered five years later by the events that follow the death of her kind benefactress, the Reverend Mother.

When a new abbess arrives at Sainte Marie-de-la-mer, she does not arrive alone. With her is her personal confessor and spiritual guide, Père Colombin, a man Soeur Auguste knows all too well. The newcomer is Guy LeMerle, now masquerading as a priest, and the one man she fears more than any other.

Soeur Auguste has a secret. Once she was l'Ailée, star performer of a troupe led by LeMerle, before betrayal forced her to change her identity.

But now the past has found her. To protect herself and her beloved child, l'Ailée will have to perform one last act of dazzling daring more audacious than any she has previously attempted.

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