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Amazon.co.uk Review
Holy Fools is Joanne Harris's most enjoyable novel yet, a beautifully detailed and sharply observed piece that emotionally moves the reader unlike anything she has tackled before. The immense success of Chocolat and Coastliners has made Harris one of the most cherished authors at work today, and each new book is something of an event.
Holy Fools is set in 17th century France, and the central character is Juliette, a former actress and rope dancer who has given up her travelling life to become a teaching nun at a remote abbey. Juliette has settled with her young daughter into an existence very different from that she knew, and she finds comfort from the advice of the wise and friendly abbess.
Harris brilliantly delineates both phases of her heroine's life: the colourful earlier era and the new demands of the semi-cloistered life. Things change radically when the abbess dies and her place is taken by an 11-year-old girl whose appetite for reform quickly destroys much that Juliet has come to love in her new life. What makes the book so refreshingly original is not just the unusual structure (the heroine's dual life alone is handled with radiant detail), but the surprising new trajectory the narrative takes after the death of the abbess, as everything Juliette was used to begins to go wrong.
We become involved in every minor crisis, however much we question that the religious life is the answer to her problems. Juliette is a brilliantly drawn character, and the plotting of this ambitious novel is both thoughtful and invigorating, while the basic theme--the ploys we all use to distract ourselves from the painful realities of existence--is handled with subtlety. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
The author of the best-selling Chocolat has produced a moving story set in 17th century France. Juliette, a former actress and rope dancer, has abandoned her travelling life and, with her young daughter, becomes a teaching nun in a remote abbey under the care of the wise abbess. We look back at Juliette's life and her link with the sinister Blackbird named Le Merle, while the abbess dies and in her place is appointed an 11-year-old girl full of the zeal of reform. Everything begins to go wrong in Juliette's tranquil life. A gripping story from start to finish.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Once again Joanne Harris has written a superb novel, in my opinion it’s the best one yet. She takes you to a small Abbey in a French village where life is comfortable, but something bad is in the air. King Henry is dead and a new Reform is on the way especially with the Church. Old wounds are opened and everyone’s dedication and belief questioned. The story is set over a six-week period where you feel you have read events for the whole day from morning vigils prayers to evening chapter prayers. The end of each day leaves you wanting more. (I couldn’t put this book down and was actually glad when my train was delayed in the mornings). The character Juliette is strong and resourceful, showing that education back then was as uninviting as the devil himself. The life Juliette thinks she is free from finds her and whether it claims her or not you’ll find out when you read it. The other characters are fantastically depicted and life at a nunnery comes across as amusing, difficult and lonely. I loved the detail and felt like I was at the Abbey myself watching events unfold, truths and lies told and emotions left unchecked. There is nothing that I disliked about the book and I recommend it to anyone who loves magic, mystery and suspense.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've been a fan of Joanne Harris since reading Chocolat, which is one of my favourite books of all time. I've read all her work and find her style of writing absolutely delicious.
In this book, she tells the story of a woman who tries to break away from her past by joining in a monastery in rural France, though her philosophy is much more gypsy than Christian.
This book is darker and more dramatic than her previous work, but once again, the characters are both compelling and well-drawn, and the plot is unpredictable and captivating.
Short chapters and a flowing storyline make it very easy to read - in fact, I didn't like having to take a break from it and ended up staying up very late one night to finish it.
All in all it's a good book, but it's not quite Chocolat.
In this book, she tells the story of a woman who tries to break away from her past by joining in a monastery in rural France, though her philosophy is much more gypsy than Christian.
This book is darker and more dramatic than her previous work, but once again, the characters are both compelling and well-drawn, and the plot is unpredictable and captivating.
Short chapters and a flowing storyline make it very easy to read - in fact, I didn't like having to take a break from it and ended up staying up very late one night to finish it.
All in all it's a good book, but it's not quite Chocolat.
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Best-selling novelist Joanne Harris returns to France for her lovely new novel, Holy Fools.
Like Coastliners which precedes it, Holy Fools is set on the French coast, except this time most of the action takes place at an abbey where the main protagonist, Juliette – now living as a nun, Soeur August – has taken refuge with her infant daughter several years before.
Set in the 1600s, it juxtaposes the sometimes extreme religious values held in France at that time, as reflected by the nuns at the abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer, and those of a rough and secular age, personified by the wandering players of the circus.
Over both of these worlds hovers the spectre of Guy LeMerle, nicknamed the Blackbird – an enigmatic risk-taker who has played a large part in Juliette’s colourful past.
Only he knows that she flew the high-wire as L’Ailée, the winged one, when they travelled the country as performers.
Will he arrive at the abbey and, if so, will it necessarily mean doom for Juliette and her little girl? This solid novel (more than 400 pages) takes the reader on a journey back and forth between Juliette’s two lives and it is not clear until near the end what is going to happen.
As in other Harris novels, religious dogma takes a battering and the free-spirited Juliette is in many ways reminiscent of Vianne Rocher from the gorgeous Chocolat.
Harris writes in a fluid and engaging way, drawing the reader on like a piper ahead of a minstrels’ caravan.
Definitely one for the book club.
Like Coastliners which precedes it, Holy Fools is set on the French coast, except this time most of the action takes place at an abbey where the main protagonist, Juliette – now living as a nun, Soeur August – has taken refuge with her infant daughter several years before.
Set in the 1600s, it juxtaposes the sometimes extreme religious values held in France at that time, as reflected by the nuns at the abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer, and those of a rough and secular age, personified by the wandering players of the circus.
Over both of these worlds hovers the spectre of Guy LeMerle, nicknamed the Blackbird – an enigmatic risk-taker who has played a large part in Juliette’s colourful past.
Only he knows that she flew the high-wire as L’Ailée, the winged one, when they travelled the country as performers.
Will he arrive at the abbey and, if so, will it necessarily mean doom for Juliette and her little girl? This solid novel (more than 400 pages) takes the reader on a journey back and forth between Juliette’s two lives and it is not clear until near the end what is going to happen.
As in other Harris novels, religious dogma takes a battering and the free-spirited Juliette is in many ways reminiscent of Vianne Rocher from the gorgeous Chocolat.
Harris writes in a fluid and engaging way, drawing the reader on like a piper ahead of a minstrels’ caravan.
Definitely one for the book club.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not a fan, I gave up on it.
I loved blackberry wine, and chocolat was good also. But this book was so dull, and a little like chocolat, I felt no warmth towards the main character. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Rhoanne May
Masterly
I was sorry I left it so long to read this because it is such an enjoyable novel and I should have treated myself to it before. Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2010 by M. J. Saxton
Disappointing
I'm afraid I found this book disappointing. It rather smacked of an author carried along by previous success and running out of ideas. It was dragged out to fill too many pages. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2009 by Mrs. Margaret E. Watts
Joanne Harris
Where does she get her ideas, stories, and characterisations from?. A mystery. How does she distill the quintessence of their feyness, in such a gripping way? Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2009 by SuperWomen
Have read a lot worse!!
I must admit if I had read the reviews of this book before I started reading it, I probably wouldn't have bothered. But having just finished it, I'm glad I did! Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2009 by Helen Lawrence
Engrossing
I'm glad I didn't read the reviews of this book until I had finished it, because there is such a variety of opinion that I might have lost sight of my own! Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2009 by Deborah
Another cracker
I love Joanne Harris. There's nobody around today can spin a yarn like her. I found this to be a fantastic, gripping story, full of her usual intrigues and double bluffs. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2008 by daisyrock
Inaccurate and disappointing
I have enjoyed Joanne Harris in the past,and believed her work to be well-researched but this novel makes me wonder if I have been wrong to do so. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2008 by Jenny Wren
Not her best but still worth reading!
I think this is the sixth novel I have read by Joanne Harris and it is the one I have enjoyed the least. Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2008 by LindyLouMac
Not a patch on her others
It's impossible to give Joanne Harris only one star because her writing style is just beautiful. However, along with Coastliners, this is the book of hers that I've enjoyed the... Read more
Published on 2 July 2008 by BM
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