on tBR pile

Gentle story, absorbing,but not my favourite Joanne Harris book.

Caught at the edinbrgh meetup. Thank you.

Left over at the September Meet Up so I showed mercy and took it along. Will see if I can find a new home for it

RELEASE NOTES:

Thanks to XLonelyGuy for telling me about this OBCZ.

Picked up from Chill.

(taken from the back)
Jay Macintosh is trapped in the old familiar landscape of his childhood, more enticing than the present, and to which he longs to return. A bottle of home-brewed wine left to him by a long-vanished friend seems to provide both the key to an old mystery and a doorway into another world. As the unusual properties of the strange brew takes effect, Jay escapes to a derelict farmhouse in a French village, where 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?

I really enjoyed this book and am encouraged to hear that this may not be the best book by Joanne Harris! It is a beautifully evocative book and the direction it was taking wasn’t always clear, leaving me wondering what would happen next.

It did leave me feeling frustrated at times – partly due to Jay’s frustration and feelings of abandonment and partly because I felt there were some unanswered questions, although by the end, these answers no longer seemed important and maybe that was the point!

It was such a joy to read a book that isn’t solely based on a romantic relationship and I was willing the ending not to turn into the clichéd romance it would have been so easy to do. Therefore, I’m not sure whether I’m disappointed this was hinted at, or happy that it didn’t dominate. Either way, I’m looking forward to reading another book by Joanne Harris.

I have added a post-it note on the first page saying ‘This book has already travelled from Scotland -where will it go next?’ and will leave this book for somebody else to enjoy.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left on the bookshelf towards the back of the shop.