Blackberry Wine: from Joanne Harris, the bestselling author of Chocolat, comes a tantalising, sensuous and magical novel which takes us back to the charming French village of Lansquenet

Joanne Harris

Jun 2010 · Random House

About this ebook

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

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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?

Ratings and reviews

Nah, don't "give this one a miss" or worry about it becoming disorganized towards the end!! 😏 This book is great!! 😃👍 It's not as sentimental as Chocolat, I'd say: (well not as the film): and it has a lovely portrait of a friendship between a youth and an old man, most of the book taking place in England in the 1970s. (I love the "historical" setting as it evokes much for me 😉 though Jay is at least ten years older than I am.) The scenes of a lonely boy getting bullied are pretty harrowing and draw one in: somewhat like similar scenes in JH's St Oswald's School books (Gentlemen and Players etc) only in a far less claustrophobic environment. No mistaken identities here. The bully in the black leather jacket with the air rifle scared me - but fortunately the main protagonist has Joe and his cottage, his plants and his stories to take refuge in. He also makes a fascinating friendship with a proto-New-Age-traveller child. Some interesting ambiguities throughout the book and towards the end concerning old Joe and his "powers". :) Well worth an engrossing read!

This is not joanne's best, the storyline is not as strong as Chocolat and the rest of the trilogy. Perhaps give this one a miss???

A fun little book with a decent plotline which unfortunately gets disorganised toward the end.

About the author

Joanne Harris is one of our best-loved and most versatile novelists. She first appeared on the scene with the bestselling Chocolat (made into an Oscar-nominated film with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp), which turned into the sensuous Lansquenet trilogy (with Lollipop Shoes and Peaches for Monsieur le Curé). She has since written acclaimed novels in such diverse genres as fantasy based on Norse myth (Runemarks, Runelight, The Gospel of Loki), and the Malbry cycle of dark psychological thrillers (Gentlemen & Players, Blueeyedboy, and now Different Class).

Born in Barnsley, of an English father and a French mother, she spent fifteen years as a teacher before (somewhat reluctantly) becoming a full-time writer. In 2013, she was awarded an MBE. She lives in Yorkshire, plays bass in a band first formed when she was sixteen, works in a shed in her garden, spends far too much time online and occasionally dreams of faking her own death and going to live in Hawaii.