I read this book as part of the "Food Glorious Food" January challenge. It also fulfilled one of my personal goals for 2012 to read books that have been sitting on my shelf.Normally I don't love books that have strained/negative relationships between mothers and daughters but even though that tension provides the framework for this story, the real story is that of a French farm family during WW2 at the time of the German occupation. A while back I read and really enjoyed Winter Garden - another book where the framework of the story is the tension between a mother and her daughters. What drew me into that story was the inside view of the siege of Leningrad. I felt as though I got to experience what it might have been like to survive through that. In the same way Five Quarters of the Orange helped me experience life as it might have been lived by those not directly involved in the war. This is not a tale of the front or the camps or the fighting and still it's a WW2 story that I hadn't read before. The novel begins with the legacy bestowed on the main character, Framboise, of a recipe book/scrapbook of sorts. As Framboise ("Boise") sorts through the recipes she comes to understand not just her mother but events that led up to a massacre in her village for which her mother is ultimately blamed. This is not page turner but it's an intelligently written story that slowly and carefully reveals how seemingly small moments and every day events led up to the climactic event. To borrow a phrase from my friend Joanna, Harris treats the reader intelligently by weaving in small details and images which add layers of meaning without insulting the reader or yanking her along.Not a "must read" or a book that everyone would enjoy but I'm glad to have read it and feel like I gained a greater understanding of WW2 - a subject that I thought had been largely saturated by novels I've read.
This was just such a wonderful book to read. Harris’ writing is so wonderfully descriptive. In just a few sentences she takes me directly to the village of Les Laveuses on the Loire. She’s able to cast a mood so precisely, that reading this book is much more like living it. The tastes and smells of food...recipes...are a big part of this novel. It makes me want to go and cook, to bake, to fill my own kitchen with culinary delights.The story itself is complex. Framboise Dartigen has a secret from WWII...that she fears will change her comfortable life forever if she lets any of the secret out. After living with tragedy and the huge burden of shame for so many years, Boise finally has to come face to face with her past. And the story that emerges is deeply haunting and wonderful at the same time. Complete captivation for me.“This year we had hardly seen it coming. Most other years we would have awaited the celebration with an impatience greater than Christmas, for presents were scarce in those days and December is a poor time for celebration. October, fleeting and sappy sweet with its reddish gold light and early white frosts and the leaves turning brilliantly, is a different matter, a magical time, a last gleeful defiance in the face of the approaching cold. Other years we would have had the pile of wood and dead leaves waiting in a sheltered spot weeks in advance, the necklaces of crab apples and bags of nuts waiting, our best clothes ironed and ready and our shoes polished for dancing. There might have been a special celebration at the Lookout Post (wreaths hung on the Treasure Stone and scarlet flower heads dropped into the slow brown Loire), pears and apples sliced and dried in the oven, garlands of yellow corn plaited and worked into braids and dollies for good luck around the house, tricks planned against the unsuspecting and bellies rumbling in hungry anticipation."
From the author of "Chocolat" comes this novel set in a village on the banks of the Loire. The main character again has a shop - in this case a creperie. Again, food plays a central part in the story. But this is a much darker story altogether, and a much more satisfying read.Framboise is the daughter of Mirabelle Dartigen - a woman held responsible by the villagers for a terrible tragedy which took place during the German occupation many years previously. Framboise returns to the village anonymously, hoping for a fresh start,(view spoiler)[ although she has troubled memories. She is determined to find out the truth, and strangely begins to pick up clues from her mother's recipe book, which she has discovered. From the cryptic scribbles she begins to learn of her mother's sensuous obsession with food, which jars with her own recollections of how cruel her mother could be. An incident dating from when Framboise was 9 years old is the key to the mystery. It involves both the soldiers and villagers, and is an incident where there is great loyalty but also a deep betrayal. (hide spoiler)]
—Jean
Finished it this afternoon. I would have given it more stars, but I can't stand violence. Holocost violence is the worst. Ok, so it only gets violent at the end, but now it's all I can think about.Also, I feel like ther was this huge buildup to a terrible event. I wish that the actual happenings of said terrible event were revealed at the beginning. There was so much "omg, what is gonna happen" that by the time the terrible event actually occurred, I wasn't exactly floored. I just think it would
—Amanda
What I liked about this book: the main character is richly drawn, and I especially enjoyed seeing her at different stages of life. There's also a momentum to the story that keeps you reading, wanting to know just what will happen next (and what really did happen way back in the past). The setting is fabulous -- especially for anyone who studied French in high school and dreams of extended travels in the Loire Valley. And of course the food talk. Yummmmm....What I didn't like about this book: I think it wasn't as well edited as it could have been. There were times when I stopped and noticed the actual mechanics of the writing. Perhaps it was a phrase repeated too often. Or dialog that included modern American idioms, things I really doubt anyone said in French in WWII era. Or maybe a character trait that seemed added only half-way through, some defining characteristic that feels like an afterthought (a good afterthought, but still frustrating.) It almost seemed like it was rushed to completion, like it wasn't quite as polished as it could've been (and as I remember Chocolat being). All in all, I liked it, and only wish I could say I loved it.
—Katie
