Blackberry Wine-Joanne Harris

In spite of its similarities to Chocolat in character and themes, Blackberry Wine stands alone. Readers need not read Harris's books in any particular order to appreciate them.

Jay is a writer in his late 30s, living in London with his much younger and much more successful chic girlfriend, Kerry. Once upon a time, Jay wrote an amazing book called Jackapple Joe , his hugely successful one-hit wonder. He is never able to reproduce the energy or acclaim, and so he writes fantasy and sci-fi under a pen name to make a few bucks. Jackapple Joe was a heightened and nostalgic retelling of Jay's childhood summers spent with his grandparents at Kirby Monckton and the older man on Pog Hill Lane with whom he forged a unique but nurturing relationship. Blackberry Wine acquaints readers with its characters through a series of flashbacks interspersed in the narrative of the present. Joe's folk wisdom and gardening tips endeared him to me as they helped bond him to a young and lonely Jay; Jay's teenage struggles with a neighborhood thug help to shape the adult he becomes.

One morning, after Jay has slept in and makes a very small attempt at working, he notices the mail being delivered and sees, illuminated in golden sunlight, an advertisement for real estate; specifically, a picture of a French chateaux, or "chatto" as Joe called his dream house. The picture is exactly what Joe described as his life's ambition. The advertisement is so enticing that Jay spontaneously buys the estate and moves to Lansquenet on the spot, somehow feeling that Joe is there.

The estate, Joe's bottles of homemade liqueur called "The Specials," and the not-so-unreal memories of Joe inspire Jay to write again. He begins writing about Lansquenet and its inhabitants, quizzing Josephine in the café about an especially interesting villager, Marise d'Api, whose land borders his own. After weeks of inspired writing, rewarding hard labor in his gardens, and getting beyond the surface pleasantries of the townspeople, Jay quickly comes to feel that the truth about the villagers and the life he is building for himself are more important than writing the great follow-up novel, that self-fulfillment and contentment in one's life are more alluring to him now than fame and notoriety once were. Life is the true inspiration for art, but, in the end, life is more important to Jay than the art that once helped forge his identity and success.

Blackberry Wine is the sort of book that can be read in a day or two, but is also a book whose characters and setting implant themselves under your skin and don't go away. I found myself suspending disbelief in many sections of the novel, especially when Joe describes his "astral travel" abilities. The fairy tale qualities of the story make it a sweet read rather than a trivial one, and the genuineness of its inhabitants make me want to visit Lansquenet someday…

Thanks, Ira....for recommending this to me....