I was lucky enough to listen to, and meet, Joanne Harris in person when she visited Kenilworth as part of her book tour. Fans of Joanne Harris, most particularly her "Chocolat" series, will be delighted with 'The Strawberry Thief'. I was confident that I was going to love it, but even so, it's been a while since novel had me quite so spellbound as this did.
This can be read as a standalone novel, but I would recommend reading, at the very least, 'Chocolat' before this so you can have the better understanding of the characters and circumstances that led up to this point. Names like Armande, Narcisse (on whom much of the story hangs), and Zozie deserve to be known - honestly, you're doing yourself a favour if you read the three books that come before this one.
But anyway, back to the subject at hand. Vianne is feeling as settled as she can be in Lansquenet-Sous-Tannes, despite the call of the wind enticing her to move on. She has put down roots; the chocolaterie is well established and frequented, even during Lent; she has even almost made a friend in the Priest, Reynaud. She longs as only a mother does for her firstborn, Anouk, who is making a life for herself in Paris. Her second child, Rosette, is unlike any other child - but in a way that Vianne is sure will enable her to keep Rosette with her forever. Rosette is really the star of this book, but Vianne and Reynaud have important journeys to go on, as well.
The inciting event, as it were, is the death of Narcisse and the subject of his will. His daughter and son-in-law, absent for many years, have made many appearances for the past two years, which is of course nothing to do with the fact that Narcisse is nearing the end of his life and therefore set to leave a substantial inheritance. In a splendid trick that infuriates his daughter, he leaves her and her husband all of his land except for the most valuable part - a special wood which contains a strawberry field. This, he leaves to Rosette. He also makes Reynaud, whom he never particularly liked, the executor of his will, as well as leaving a long document for only Reynaud to read - a confession of sorts.
Vianne, though happier in a general sense, seems to suffer a consistent undercurrent of anxiety. Firstly over her children (as any parent can understand), but it becomes more acute when Narcisse's flower shop is let out. I won't write about who rents it and for what purpose, but what I will say is that it forces Vianne to confront things about herself that she thought she had quashed - for her own sake as well as her children. It's never really clear whether the proprietor of this shop is someone we are supposed to be wary of or empathise with - it depends whether you are reading from Vianne's or Rosette's POV, and more particularly if the name 'Zozie' means anything to you. However, what I will say - and this probably isn't too spoilery - is that this person seems, in some ways, to be a mirror image of Vianne, or the parts of Vianne that she feels she needs to put away.
Rosette is easily my favourite character in this book. She's talented, imaginative, open-hearted and guileless (for the most part). She's powerful, too, and what the rest of the town sees as 'wrong' with her (i.e. she doesn't necessarily present as neurotypical), is what makes her extraordinary. As the story goes on, we find out more about why she is the way she is. She is pulling the strings of a lot of different parts of the story, although she may not be aware of it.
I am so, so glad that Joanne Harris invited her readers back into this world with her. It has the right combination of freshness and familiarity, a good dose of mythology and magic, (I was most intrigued to find out that the word 'hurricane' is named after Hurakan, the Mayan god of the wind), and, of course, the sensual feast that compelled readers to love 'Chocolat' in the first place.
'The Strawberry Thief' is available in all the usual places, but if you get it from the link below, you get a beautiful signed edition that comes with a bonus short story:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-strawberry-thief/joanne-harris/9781409192169
No comments:
Post a Comment