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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Peaches for Father Francis

Peaches for Father Francis continues the story of Vianne Rocher which Harris began with Chocolat.  Vianne returns to Lansquenet with her daughters Anouk and Rosette after receiving a letter from her friend Armande Voizin.  The letter was written before Armande's death, but by a strange (magical?) coincidence, makes its way to Vianne at a time when her presence is indeed needed.

What Vianne finds in Lansquenet is a community divided by culture and religion:  Catholic and Muslim.  To add to the strange atmosphere, Father Francis, Vianne's former nemesis, needs her help.

Although there are magical and evocative portions (typical Harris in creating a living atmosphere), I found much of the novel a bit forced.  Nevertheless, if you've enjoyed previous books in the Chocolat series, you will appreciate the opportunity to catch up on some of the characters.

An ARC e-book from Netgalley.  Publication date:  Oct. 2

Fiction.  Magical Realism.  2012.  print version:  464 pages.

4 comments:

  1. I enjoyed Chocolate, but thought The Girl With No Shadow was much better! (Here's my review.) What a shame that this one didn't impress you. Maybe I'll wait and listen to it on audio. Harris tends to be a hit-or-miss author with me.

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  2. Les - I feel exactly the same way--The Girl with No Shadow is still the best of the three! And Harris is definitely hit or miss with me, too; there have been a few that I really liked, but more that don't work for me.

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  3. It has been quite a while, but I do remember really liking Chocolat, and also the movie, though it was quite different. I've picked up a couple others over the years but couldn't get interested.

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  4. Nan - I liked the film Chocolat better than the book. As Les mentions, The Girl with No Shadow is our favorite in this series. I also liked Gentlemen & Players, but have read several of Harris' that didn't keep my attention.

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