Joanne Harris

Henry Chester, a puritanical and tyrannical Victorian artist, finds the perfect model in nine-year-old Effie, until, ten years later, Effie, a childlike, biddable, and sedated perfect wife, awakens as an illicit love affair draws her into a dark and dangerous world of blackmail, revenge, and intrigue. Original. 30,000 first printing.

Forced to abandon her life as a traveling actress and seek refuge in a seventeenth-century abbey, Juliette reinvents an identity for herself and her young daughter in the wake of political upheavals surrounding the assassination of King Henri IV, only to find her past catching up with her. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.

A collection of short stories that goes hand-in-hand with the mundane, the sour with the sweet, and the beautiful, the grotesque, the seductive and the disturbing are never more than one step away. It is a selection of tales for our times that shows a side to the author you have never seen before.

Sleep, Pale Sister, a powerful, atmospheric and blackly gothic evocation of Victorian artistic life, was originally published before Joanne Harris achieved worldwide recognition with Chocolat. Henry Chester, a domineering and puritanical Victorian artist, is in search of the perfect model.

By the bestselling author of Chocolat, international multi-million copy seller Joanne Harris, comes a passionate story of love, nuns and witches, set in 17th-century France. Perfect for fans of Victoria Hislop, Fiona Valpy, Maggie O'Farrell and Rachel Joyce.'Truly sensational... This is a wonderful novel. It draws you in from the very first page' -- SUNDAY EXPRESS'Hugely enjoyable... Both consoling and wise' -- New Statesman'With this bold, inventive book, Harris confirms her position as one of Britain's most popular novelists' -- DAILY MAIL'Stunned, but in a good way' -- ***** Reader review'Absorbing' -- ***** Reader review'Keeps you hooked from the start' -- ***** Reader review'Fabulous' -- ***** Reader review'A great page-turner' -- ***** Reader review*******************************************************************************************************In seventeenth-century France against a backdrop of witch trials, regicide and religious frenzy, Juliette, one-time actress and rope-dancer, seeks refuge with her young daughter in a remote abbey and reinvents herself as Soeur Auguste. Until a new Abbess is appointed, bringing with her a ghost from Juliette's past - a man she has every reason to fear.

As a boy, writer Jay Mackintosh spent three golden summers in the ramshackle home of "Jackapple Joe" Cox. A lonely child, he found solace in Old Joe's simple wisdom and folk charms. The magic was lost, however, when Joe disappeared without warning one fall. Years later, Jay's life is stalled with regret and ennui. His bestselling novel, Jackapple Joe, was published ten years earlier and he has written nothing since. Impulsively, he decides to leave his urban life in London and, sight unseen, purchases a farmhouse in the remote French village of Lansquenet. There, in that strange and yet strangely familiar place, Jay hopes to re-create the magic of those golden childhood summers. And while the spirit of Joe is calling to him, it is actually a similarly haunted, reclusive woman who will ultimately help Jay find himself again.

Mado has been adrift for too long. After ten years in Paris, she returns to the small island of Le Devin, the home that has haunted her since she left. Le Devin is shaped somewhat like a sleeping woman. At her head is the village of Les Salants, while its more prosperous rival, La Houssini re, lies at her feet. Yet even though you can walk from one to the other in an hour, they are worlds apart. And now Mado is back in Les Salants hoping to reconcile with her estranged father. But what she doesn't realize is that it is not only her father whose trust she must regain.

On the tiny Breton island of Le Devin, life has remained almost unchanged for over a hundred years. For generations, two rival communities have fought for control of the island's only beach. When Mado returns home ot her village after a ten-year absence, she finds it threatened, both by the tides and by a local entrepreneur.

A gripping page-turner set in occupied France from international multi-million copy seller Joanne Harris. With the sensuous writing we come to expect from her, this book has a darker core. Perfect for fans of Victoria Hislop, Fiona Valpy, Maggie O'Farrell and Rachel Joyce, this fascinating and vivid journey through human cruelty and kindness is a gripping and compelling read.'Her strongest writing yet: as tangy and sometimes bitter as Chocolat was smooth' -- Independent'Harris indulges her love of rich and mouthwatering descriptive passages, appealing to the senses... Thoroughly enjoyable' -- Observer'Outstanding...beautifully written' -- Daily Mail'Very thought provoking. I read the book in two days and am still thinking about it a few days down the line' -- ***** Reader review'Absolutely gripping from the very first page' -- ***** Reader review'Joanne Harris at her very best!'-- ***** Reader review'Superb' -- ***** Reader review'I just couldn't put this one down'-- ***** Reader review 2*********************************************************THE PAST WILL ALWAYS CATCH UP WITH YOU... Beyond the main street of Les Laveuses runs the Loire: smooth and brown as a sunning snake - but hiding a deadly undertow beneath its moving surface. This is where Framboise, a secretive widow, plies her culinary trade at the crêperie - and lets her memory play strange games. As her nephew attempts to exploit the growing success of the country recipes Framboise has inherited from her mother - a woman remembered with contempt by the villagers - memories of a disturbed childhood during the German Occupation flood back, and expose a past full of betrayal, blackmail and lies...

This captivating and charming novel from international multi-million copy seller Joanne Harris takes us back to the French village we first discovered in Chocolat. Seamlessly interweaving the past and the present, magic and memory, it is a sensual rollercoaster that will appeal to fans of Victoria Hislop, Fiona Valpy, Maggie O'Farrell and Rachel Joyce.'Thickly sensuous, wildly indulgent, magical escapism: Chocolat lovers will drink deeply' --GUARDIAN'Joanne Harris has the gift of conveying her delight in the sensuous pleasures of food, wine, scent and plants... Blackberry Wine has all the appeal of a velvety scented glass of vintage wine' -- DAILY MAIL'A wonderful story' -- ***** Reader review'A beautiful story... beautifully written and very atmospheric' ***** Reader review'I could NOT put this book down' ***** Reader review'A very good book, lots of warmth and light' ***** Reader review*******************************************************************Jay Mackintosh is trapped by memory in the old familiar landscape of his childhood, to which he longs to return. A bottle of home-brewed wine left to him by a long-vanished friend seems to provide the key to an old mystery. As the unusual properties of the strange brew take effect, Jay escapes to a derelict farmhouse in the French village of Lansquenet. There, a ghost from the past waits to confront him, and the reclusive Marise - haunted, lovely and dangerous - hides a terrible secret behind her closed shutters. Between them, a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic?

Then an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, blows in on the changing wind with her young daughter, and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church. I loved it.'Chocolat was Joanne Harris's first book about Vianne Rocher, and was turned into the Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.

Even before it was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, Joanne Harris' New York Times bestselling novel Chocolat entranced readers with its mix of hedonism, whimsy, and, of course, chocolate. In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival. Chocolat's every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere. It's a must for anyone who craves an escapist read, and is a bewitching gift for any holiday.