Blackberry Wine - Joanne Harris

There is a vicious perception that Joanne Harris is a girls author, she writes books aimed at the female audience. Poppy cock is what I say to that. Joanne Harris writes thoughtful novels, in a wonderfully indulgent style (guys appreciate literature too you know), so ignore the perception and give the lady a go. Semi-rant over, lets begin, you must have heard of Chocolat, even if it was also a film which made somewhat of a pig?s ear of a wonderful book (sigh, how many times do film makers do that?) Yes, Joanne Harris wrote that book and it was a charming read, whilst also being slightly provocative at the same time. The follow-up has a similar ...

Blackberry Wine is one of a series of food related books written by Joanne Harris, more recognised for her bestselling books, Chocolat and Five Quarters of an Orange. The theme of all three books is gastronomy and each has its' merits as modern literature, whilst being different in their own ways. The style of Joanne Harris's work is distinctively different from many that write on the subject of rural life in France, and very authentic in the way it deals with interaction between french villagers, and this book is no exception though takes a very different stance from her other stories. It would be difficult to explain how the author wrote the book from the ...

For those of you that don't know, I'm a bit of a fan of books. Well reading in general actually, magazines, newspapers, crisp packets, whatever. Writing a review of a book however is a completely different kettle of fish and up until now I've been a bit chicken about doing it. I've wanted to, you know ?. I just haven't done it. There are very few books where I've struggled to get into the story and wrap the characters around myself. Blackberry Wine was one of those rare books where I felt I really had to plough through the first few chapters until I got to a point where I could look forward to picking it up again next time. I always ...