Five Quarters of
the Orange
By Joanne Harris
Perennial, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2002
ISBN: 0060958022
Novel-Literary
Reviewed by Carolyn
Howard-Johnson, MyShelf.Com
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Food is its Inspiration,
Not its Essentials
Five Quarters
of the Orange is
Possibly the Most Luscious Release of the Year
Taken with the color, scent, taste and delicious sounding French names
of food, Joanne Harris uses them as her inspiration for the tastiest of
novels. Having said that, I worry that readers might be mislead by the
title and all the hoop-la over the food in this novel and in Joanne Harris's
previous book called "Chocolat" (many art film aficionados
may remember it from its adaptation to the screen.) Everyone is so fascinated
by the food in Five Quarters of the Orange that more important
aspects of this novel might be ignored.
This book is a fine period piece set in France during the German occupation.
It is about history. It is about man's inhumanity to man. It is about
pleasurable innocence and its bitter loss. It is about how people sometimes
let who they think they are rule their lives and their hearts.
This may easily be one the most satisfying and unsettling releases of
the year. Yes, truly bitter sweet. Pungent. Like an orange. And any other
number of foods that Harris lingers over in Five Quarters of the Orange.
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