Journal Entry 1 by Frangipani04 on Thursday, February 22, 2007

To be sent to Froggie66 in Canada soon! 

Journal Entry 2 by Frangipani04 on Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Great book! I had it in my bookshelf for quite a long time and read it so that I could offer it as a "thank you RABCK" to Froggie66. I'm quite glad I finally read it. It's a great book, that makes you "live" for some time in a abbey during the XVII century with intiguing Juliette.

It will now cross the Atlantic to be read by Froggie66. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!



From amazon:

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.
 

Journal Entry 3 by Froggie66 from Ottawa, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Obrigado for the book. Sorry it has taken me so long to journal it but I was in Paris and South Africa for the past month. It has arrived safely. I will read it and then journal it again. It looks like it will be a good read.

 

Journal Entry 4 by Froggie66 from Ottawa, Ontario Canada on Monday, June 11, 2007

This book originally came from Frangipani04 in Lisboa. Thanks for the little surprise of a post card in the book. It felt out in the middle of my reading this book. It was a nice surprise.

The book was a fast read for me. Based in 17th Century France with the ever present prosecution for being a witch and the religious frenzy. I liked the historical setting and it being in France. The religious aspect of it was not my most favourite. The story somewhat set in a Nunnery along with a wandering gypsy circus with a lot of moral angst. It is very much of that time. Well written though and definitely kept my attention til the end.

Don't get me wrong it was a good read and I am sure if you like historicals this will be one for you too.

 

Journal Entry 5 by Froggie66 from Ottawa, Ontario Canada on Friday, June 15, 2007

Being shipped to Ace of Hearts. Happy reading. 

Journal Entry 6 by AceofHearts from Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Saturday, June 23, 2007

Received in the mail yesterday. Thanks so much for the RABCK. It was so kind of you :) 

Journal Entry 7 by AceofHearts at Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Sunday, October 02, 2011

This book is set in seventeenth century France in an out of the way monastery by the sea. When Juliette finds herself pregnant she escapes her life as a gypsy and tightrope walker to lead a peaceful and serene life at the monastery. She tends to her garden and her daughter and teaches the novices to read Latin.

All is well until the abbess dies and the new abbess who is only eleven comes with an old acquaintance, Le Merle. He is posing as a priest but has the most evil of agendas. Juliette, now Sister Auguste would expose him but he is holding her daughter and she must find a way to help the other nuns and save her daughter.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found the storyline compelling but the ending fell flat. I had difficulty getting into the story but once there, was riveted. The information about the nuns and their lives during this time period was interesting. 

Journal Entry 8 by HoserLauren at Toronto, Ontario Canada on Friday, January 13, 2012

Reading now! 

Journal Entry 9 by HoserLauren at Toronto, Ontario Canada on Saturday, January 14, 2012

I tried but couldn't get in to this book. Something about combining the life of a performance artist and a nun just didn't work for me. I also couldn't understand why the main character's daughter was allowed to stay with her in the abbey, isn't that unusual? 

Journal Entry 10 by AceofHearts at Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Sunday, January 15, 2012

This book is back with me! 

Journal Entry 11 by AceofHearts at Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Sunday, January 15, 2012

mailed to bookstogive who won this in a YBS swap on BookObsessed 

Journal Entry 12 by bookstogive at Springville, Tennessee USA on Thursday, January 19, 2012

Received this book from the YBS Swap, thanks so much! I am really looking forward to reading it and then it can continue it's travels.