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Title: Holy Fools : A Novel by Joanne Harris ISBN: 0-06-055912-8 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Intoxicating tale of passion, secrets and folly extreme...
Comment: "Holy Fools:A Novel," by colorful writer Joanne Harris transports the reader back in time to the year 1605-- where a young woman is pregant and alone. She seeks sanctuary at a small Abbey on an island off the Brittany coast. 5 years pass and events arrise following the death of the Reverend Mother-- events that threaten to shatter the new life this young woman started five years earlier. FANTASTIC BOOK TO BE SURE!!! I really enjoyed HOLY FOOLS:A NOVEL ! The action is nonstop, the dialogue compelling and the storyline had me glued in one spot during the entire read of the story! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Rating: 5
Summary: A Triumph
Comment: Holy Fools marks a return to the Gothic theme of Joanne Harris' best novels, 'Chocolat' and 'Sleep Pale Sister'. It is also a triumphant return to form. Holy Fools is so richly Gothic that it must have Matthew 'Monk' Lewis cooing with pleasure in his grave.
Juliette is a former travelling player who has sought refuge at the Abbey of St. Marie-de-la-mer with her daughter Fleur (and this novel makes you understand why theatre troupes were sometimes feared as well as clapped, as they could be bearers of disease, or just common thieves). Under Mere Marie, the regime at the Abbey is rather relaxed, helped by her skill in the nurturing of potatoes. However, after several years, the ageing Mere Marie suddenly passes away, and a new abbess arrives. Everyone is rather taken aback by the youth of the new mother superior, but more so by her prudish nature (she has led a very sheltered life, and thinks that the birds and the bees are mere fauna). Juliette is even more shocked to see the Abbess accompanied by an old adversary, LeMerle, the 'blackbird' that had been her first love, and who had betrayed her and left her for dead. LeMerle is obviously up to no good by posing as a cleric, for Juliette knows him to be a charlatan, and it's not long before he has kidnapped Fleur.
Joanne Harris skilfully portrays Juliette's life prior to meeting LeMerle, and her adventures on the road with his theatrical troupe. As well as performing, LeMerle writes and directs. Unfortunately, his plays and ballets have more than a little satirical edge to them, as LeMerle delights in parodying the rich and famous (which is probably why the performances are so popular with the mob). Unfortunately, he goes too far, and he and his troupe are effectively thrown out of Paris at the height of their fame. But LeMerle does not seem to be downcast by his change in fortunes, as he takes to the road with something approaching glee. Juliette, for her part, reaches the apex of her skills by performing the rope walk, and it amuses LeMerle to see the men in the audience lusting after her. But trouble always seems to be LeMerle's constant companion: some of their caravans are burnt, and one of their troupe is murdered... They fetch up in Epinal and the plague breaks out, and LeMerle is arrested. Fortunately, Judge Remy, the infamous witch persecutor, is away on business, and LeMerle wins the crowd over by selling them an elixir against the plague. But such practices could be seen as diabolical, especially when the infamous pyromaniac judge returns home. LeMerle flees in the ensuing chaos, murdering one of the troupe in the process, and leaves Juliette his lover to capture and almost certain death.
Joanne Harris has chosen her setting well: the Renaissance is full of tales of famous people who risked charges of heresy for their beliefs and actions from the thumbscrews of the Inquisition. One such person was Bruno Giordano, who was burnt at the stake, and whose surname Harris utlises for one of her characters. Although she does twist some of the historic facts to suit her own purposes, such as having a French character quote from the King James Bible in 1610, when the English only published it in 1611. Jean Bodin seems to have a very lively afterlife, and Toussaint Dubreuil's portrait of Isabelle must have been painted when she was very young, as he died in 1602. LeMerle's description of Juliette as 'Hell's catamite' seems perverse even for his standards. Apart from this, the portrait of the time following Henry IV's assassination smacks of authenticity, as does the theme of commedia dell'arte, that really forms the backbone of the novel, leading to the fantastic resolution. By making her Machiavellian villain an actor, Joanne Harris has come out trumps, and LeMerle produces a gloriously over the top performance that does not disappoint. If we're talking Hollywood here ("and why not?", as Barry Norman might say), then I would see LeMerle played by Kevin Spacey (possibly too short) or by John Malkovich, who does that Valmont thing so well (although he would have to get a wig). Juliette, a 'maypole' with red hair, could no doubt be played by Juliet Roberts or 'Juliette' Binoche perhaps? The visuals and gloriously bawdy drama of this fantastic novel are well suited to film, especially when so much of the novel is concerned with the dramatic arts. I enjoyed this novel so much that I read it in almost one sitting, and I could not wait to find out what happened in the end. When I heard that the American publishers had wanted to change the ending, I had thought that they would have gone the other way, but maybe I am confusing their sensibilities with those of Hollywood's love of sequels... This is a very rich and exciting novel, and is just the kind of book that I have longed for Joanne Harris to produce (was a bit concerned to think that she might be forced along the Mary Wesley/Catherine Cookson path). Anyone trying to follow any of Juliette's recipes in this book would indeed be a fool, as most of this food has unpleasant side effects. Hopefully Joanne Harris can make the break away from France in her next novel, as it must be worrying that the covers of Peter Mayle's books are beginning to echo the splendid jacket designs by Stuart Haygarth. Although, having written that, I would love for Joanne Harris to do a French 'Western', as I am pretty sure that this has not been done before. After all, 'New France' covered all of the Americas between Quebec and New Orleans. But Holy Fools is more than enough to sustain me for now.
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Title: The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier ISBN: 0525947671 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 29 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: My French Kitchen : A Book of 120 Treasured Recipes by Joanne Harris, Fran Warde ISBN: 0060563524 Publisher: Morrow Cookbooks Pub. Date: 14 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Birth of Venus : A Novel by Sarah Dunant ISBN: 1400060737 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 17 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland ISBN: 0670032670 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 05 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Coastliners : A Novel by Joanne Harris ISBN: 0060958014 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 14 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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