Customer Reviews
Engrossing - By: LindyLouMac, 30 Jul 2008 
Another engrossing read from Joanne Harris which although similar to `Chocolat `and `Blackberry Wine' it is a much darker story. Once again set in France this time a smalll village `Les Laveuses' near Angers on the banks of the Loire, during WWII & the present day.
The protagonist is Framboise Dartigen who has returned to the village after a long absence to live in the farmhouse of her childhood. Her mother Mirabelle Dartigen has since died & part of Framboise's inheritance was an album of memories & recipes. It is through studying this album that her memories of her childhood start to haunt her. Framboise has invented a new identity for herself, as she knows the villagers would look on her with contempt if they knew whose daughter she was. She uses her mother's recipes from the album in her restaurant which helps to make it the success it is. The consequent interference of her jealous & scheming nephew & his wife threaten to expose her true identity. However there is already one village friend from her childhood who guessed immediately who she reallly was & it with his help that she prevents this happening & unravels the mysteries that drove her family to leave the village during the Second World War. Putting the tragedies of the past behind her Framboise is finallly able to look forward to a happy future, now she is no longer resisting the truths discovered in her mother's album.
As with alll Joanne Harris's novels that I have read I highly recommend this one.
Yummy - By: Scarymushrooms, 03 Apr 2008 
An absolute delight, reallly scrumptious to read, but beware do not read on an empty stomach you'll be yearning for the food that Framboise cooks up in this book. Set in a sleepy town on the Loire, Framboise or Boise as she is know narrates the tale of her younger days through her mother's cookbook that was left to her after she passed away. It is probably one of Joanne Harris' darkest novels, but her most beautiful in my opinion. She paints the french countryside with such vivid & beautiful descriptions that its easy to find yourself yearning for a smalll cottage in rustic France. Set against the back drop of World War 2 & present day, Boise is a rebellious youngster with a desire to catch the mythical pike 'Old Mother' that lives in the darkest parts of the Loire, something to occupy her whilst her older brother & sister attend school in a nearby town. The story takes place over a summer, where love is discovered, innocence is lost & heartbreak changes the lives of alll involved. Stunning!
ok - By: b.lops, 02 Feb 2008 
this wasn't as good as I'd expected from the reviews. I couldn't warm to the characters & the main character Framboise was quite awful, without any redeeming qualities & rather frightening. Don't expect the warm sensuality of chocolat. Despite this I did want to get to the end so the story did have something to keep me interested.
Brilliant! - By: Helena Cadoux, 29 Aug 2007 One of the most rewarding books that I have ever read- at times moving, funny & intense; a brilliantly woven tapestry combining love, real, raw characters & the bitter, sad resentment of a child for a mother that she cannot understand. Complicated, touching & an incredibly enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone.
A lovely experience - By: Ms. Vanessa Wagstaff, 06 May 2007 As usual Joanne Harris writes with the succulence of the undoubted pleasure of eating! Five Quarters is a lovely story & the character Framboise is lovingly created & portrayed, a young girl who makes friends with A German soldier in hiding in occupied France.
