Literary Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris

[sun surfer]

'When Framboise Simon returns to a small village on the banks of the Loire, the locals do not recognize her as the daughter of the infamous Mirabelle Dartigen - the woman they still hold responsible for a terrible tragedy that took place during the German occupation decades before. Although Framboise hopes for a new beginning she quickly discovers that past and present are inextricably intertwined. Nowhere is this truth more apparent than in the scrapbook of recipes she has inherited from her dead mother.

With this book, Framboise re-creates her mother's dishes, which she serves in her small creperie. And yet as she studies the scrapbook - searching for clues to unlock the contradiction between her mother's sensuous love of food and often cruel demeanor - she begins to recognize a deeper meaning behind Mirabelle's cryptic scribbles. Within the journal's tattered pages lies the key to what actually transpired the summer Framboise was nine years old.'

Goodreads


There are two phases of discussion. The first begins immediately and may contain conversations about anything pre-completion of the selection including reading progress, section thoughts, outside info, etc. The second begins on the 1st and also includes anything post-completion. These are recommended to help us discuss things in a similar timeframe but anyone can discuss any part or aspect at any time.


This is the MR Literary Club selection for . Everyone is welcome so feel free to start or join in the conversation at any time; the more the merrier!

[Bookworm_Girl]

I’m already more than 25% complete. I’m really enjoying it. The first section of the book starts out with mysterious hints of secrets that will slowly unfold throughout the book. What damaged her relationships with her family? Why does she not want the people in her hometown to know her real identity?

[sun surfer]

I haven't started yet. I finished the last few selections so early I thought I'd start a little later this time.

There isn't really an audiobook for it. There's only an abridged version on Audible that I see. There seems to be an original unabridged version on CD from the early 2000s that I thought about getting but at the moment it's unavailable on Amazon so I gave up. I'm not sure why the unabridged version hasn't been ported to Audible yet.

So I'm going with the ebook. I'm currently slogging my way through my third attempt on A Brief History of Time (and pbook even!) and I usually just read one e/pbook at a time, but I might pause the Hawking to read the Harris, or read them simultaneously.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I didn’t look for an audiobook since my library had the ebook available. It reads very fast. I am finding it hard to put down because of the mystery aspect to it. I keep reading at night until I’m fighting sleep. I am about 2/3 now and will likely finish it over the weekend. The writing is wonderful. It really pulls you into the story, and you feel like you are right there with the main protagonist.

[sun surfer]

I agree with your assessment, B_G. I'm finally getting close to done and have been enjoying it.

One thing I think is so interesting about this story is that it's so sumptuous with the writing about food and recipes, but yet the characters don't ever seem to enjoy the food, or at least the writing doesn't speak of it. The food is just... mentioned. Lol. The characters, especially Framboise and her mother, seem to be great cooks/chefs but very hard and almost unsavoury people who seem to almost make and eat any food out of a sense of stern responsibility, maybe the same as like an astronaut eating freeze-dried food to survive, heh.

It's definitely an interesting choice Harris made to write a book focusing on food (although it seems most or all her books do) yet make the protagonist writing the story not interested in describing any enjoyment from it. In fact, the only strong descriptions of food's effect on anyone is the orange scent's effect on her mother, which obviously is a very negative reaction!

[Bookworm_Girl]

I loved this book especially all the food descriptions. I had not thought of the perspective you mentioned. The themes in the book are very serious and food is such a part of their culture and heritage so perhaps that’s why the food is treated that way. I will definitely read more of her books.

[John F]

This book is next up on my TBR list, it will probably be a week before I start it. Browsing through her books, the Loki ones also caught my eye.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I loved this book especially all the food descriptions. I had not thought of the perspective you mentioned. The themes in the book are very serious and food is such a part of their culture and heritage so perhaps that’s why the food is treated that way. I will definitely read more of her books.

I liked the book and just as you say, the inclusion of the food descriptions I liked a lot. Now having finished, I still have to say I think it is a strange book. It goes so dark but has these cutesy elements such as so many of the characters in the family named after food: Raspberry, Pistachio, Blackcurrant, Little Piece of Meat (Noisette).

The flashbacks/war time sections worked better for me than the more recent time period sections. Luckily, most of the book was the former. I could buy the ruthlessness of Yannick and Laure but the subplot with Laure's brother coming in with the food cart bordered on the silly. Also, I could see Boise not making the connection when a child but I felt like she would've had to have been a dolt not to connect the dots about Paul at some point once he reentered her life. And while we find he was no angel either, Boise treats him so badly in the more current sections (well, in the flashback sections too); she is such an off-putting protagonist, just like her mother.

Still it's a very interesting, if unusually melded, story. Along with the food and cookery I enjoyed the descriptions of the little town and its citizens during the Vichy France period, and I thought the revelations of what was going on during that period were well done, especially that Mirabelle was having an affair with Tomas in exchange for drugs.