Rating: 
Summary: Going home
Review: "They say you can't go home again, and I guess 'they' should know, But, oh, my heart is weary and I want to go there so...
They say I can't go home again, but maybe 'they' don't know,
I think I'll close my eyes and drift, and just see where I can go... (extracted from the poem "Home Again" by Fleta Aday). Mado returns home to her village on a French barrier island after the death of her mother in Paris. She finds her home village somewhat in a decline, along with her father who seems estranged from her. There is a rivalry between her home village and the other town on the island, and attempts to divert the tide to steal each others sand. Sand beaches are important both for coastal protection and attracting the tourists. He who has the sand has the tourist trade. There is the mysterious Flynn, a stranger who has appeared on the island and seems to be helping people in her village. Everyone seems to have their own agenda, whether it is competition for a pretty young woman, or for getting the better of a business rival. Everyone is not who they seem. As the story progresses, various information comes to the surface and hidden secrets are revealed. This is the story of people fighting to survive, whether the problems come from harsh weather, invading jellyfish, oil spills, or the greed of other individuals. Some younger people leave to look for a better life, but some return, drawn back to their beginnings. Overall, it is an interesting story.
Rating: 
Summary: My first Harris book
Review: After hearing my online reading buddies rave about Joanne Harris' Blackberry Wine and her other books, I decided to give Harris a try. I picked up Coastliners as it sounded so good and I wasn't disappointed. I must admit though that it was hard for me to get into the first few pages as it was so despondent in attitude and so gritty. But I stuck with it and ended up loving it. The writing just carries you away and you'll end up turning the pages just to get at the layer of secrets that seem to befall Madeline, the main character, everywhere she turns. Madeline, nicknamed Mado, returns home from Paris. She had left the island ten years previous with her mother and left her father behind. The youngest daughter of GrosJean, a boat builder, she returns home to be with her father. Though she wasn't exactly welcomed, she stuck it out. There, she made friends with Roget, a man of secrets, and together they tried to save the island from washing into the sea. The story begins with a festival and ends with a festival in honor of the island saint. And in that year, so many revelations were revealed and Mado discovers herself in the process. She tries to rebuild her relationship with her father and other islanders. Always headstrong and bullish, Mado soon discovers that life will continue in spite of adversity. Despite the gloomy atmosphere in the beginning of the book, Harris writes of joy and love in the midst of life's darkest times. She writes of hope and reconcilations. She writes of sibling rivalry that strikes a chord in the reader's heart ~~ she also writes of doomed romances and the ever-present sea washing upon the shores. It is an intriguing book ~~ one that speaks of adversity and determination. It has kept me turning the pages till the ending ~~ and it is well worth my time to read this book. Now that I've read a Joanne Harris book, I plan to read the others. 4-7-03
Rating:
Summary: Transported
Review: After loving Chocolat, I was looking forward to reading Coastliners. Although this book didn't have the sensual and erotic power of Chocolat, I found it very enchanting. I attribute quite a lot of my experience to the fact that I decided to buy my first book on tape and listen to it in the car on my long drive to the Cape and back. The narrator read with a fluidity and grace that transported me to another time and place. I too could feel the wind and taste the salt...and of course driving up the Cape was a great way to experience the book.
Rating:
Summary: Community, Identity and What It Means to Go Home Again
Review: As Harris' story begins, Mado, short for Madeline, returns to Le Devin and the tiny village of Les Salants after living in Paris with her mother for the past ten years. After her mother's death, Mado decides to return home to Les Salants and her father. Although she doesn't expect a welcoming parade, she is disappointed to find that few islanders even recognize her and those who do mark her return with little more than acknowledgement. Her father, GrosJean, has never answered any of her letters and is unresponsive at her return. In an effort to take her mind off of her own troubles and to try and become part of the community, Mado becomes involved with the dilemmas of the island and tries to lend a helping hand. However, one misstep leads to another and she finds she is making things worse for herself and those around her. Only a new acquaintance, a young handyman named Flynn who has been staying on her fathers land, helps her turn the tide for herself and the island. But other forces work secretly to undermine Mado's plans and the lives of the people of Les Salant. Then, just as Mado begins to feel at home once again with the island and her father, her sister and husband return with their sons to steal the attention and GrosJean's heart. A series of alliances pit neighbor against neighbor and village against village in the struggle for survival. Nothing is as it seems and no one is prepared when the truth is finally revealed. Although "Coastliners" primarily revolves around Mado, a young woman who has returned to the island and village of her youth after a long absence, the story is just as much about the island and its quirky inhabitants. The reader, immersed in the dynamics of LeDevin, its culture and the idiosyncrasies of the islanders who have made it their home for generations, emerges from the tale as if from another world. A final twist at the end adds an extra element of intrigue.
Rating: 
Summary: Everything Returns Too Often
Review: I came to this Joanne Harris novel in a bit of a backward manner. I had known her work only through the movie, "Chocolat", which I thought was wonderful. Based upon the idea that films are never as good as the original books, I thought, "Coastliners", would be close to a sure thing. Some have commented that this novel is very different than her previous works, so perhaps I picked the wrong one. In any event, I did not enjoy the book. Harris does a wonderful job of creating a vivid sense of time and place. It was that this particular island creation was just too full of tragedy and melancholy for me to enjoy. I found the theme repetitive, and in general just found the reading required concentrated effort, or I quickly drifted off taking my interest with me. The three stars for the book may not be fair, as again, this is the first time I have read her work. There is little doubt this lady writes well, but just like the beaches in the tale, my attention eroded. Others may find the book wonderful, and this one outing will not stop me from trying another one of her tales.
Rating:
Summary: Dark Chocolat
Review: I found myself skimming my way through 'Coastliners' with the exact same speed that I had devoured Holy Fools. The island in question, Le Devin, was of course, mentioned in Holy Fools, and it's not long before our heroine, Mado, has bumped into a couple of Carmelite nuns on her first visit home in ten years. The mother who took her away from Le Devin has passed away, and Mado's only immediate family is her father, GrosJean Prasteau, and her sister, Adrienne. Whilst Mado is not exactly loquacious, GrosJean is even more silent and barely says anything, even when he is around. Adrienne is also away, living in Tangiers, but Mado and she have never got on. Adrienne was the eldest child who was so beloved that she even got a present on Mado's birthday, not that she repays such spoiling in later years by attending, say, her own mother's funeral. Adrienne also married outside Les Salants, the little settlement on Le Devin where the Prasteaus have always lived. Her union with Marin Brismand, the nephew and heir of the richest man on Le Devin, is seen as a good match, despite the fact that the Brismands have always come from La Houssiniere, the other village on Le Devin, whose inhabitants sometimes take on those of Les Salants in war. However, Les Salants looks to be losing this war of attrition, as their land is subject to flooding from the sea, whilst La Houssiniere is protected by its sandbanks. It also helps that Claude Brismand is so wealthy, that he can afford to build a jetty and run a ferry to bring the tourists in. Despite the periodic invasions of day-trippers, both Les Salants and La Houssiniere are threatened by the loss of the young people, who go off to the mainland seeking a more exciting and stable life. Les Salants and its inhabitants have been literally decaying, as Mado discovers when she returns. Very few of the cottages in Les Salants are being maintained, due to the continual incursions from the sea, and it is evident that the little village is losing in its war of attrition. However, despite this, there are still a few young people around, such as the enigmatic Flynn, who has been helping Mado's father... It's probably not a good omen that practically the first thing Mado does when she arrives is to surprise her father so much that he drops the beloved statue of St. Marine-de-la-mer into the sea (the villagers are carrying the statue as they are celebrating the saint's festival). Seeing that everything has so stagnated since she has left, Mado embarks on an attempt to save the village, although none of the inhabitants are much interested as they are too busy fighting each other from decades' old feuds. Mado thinks that she has found a way to protect the village from the perennial floods from the sea, but only Flynn aids her, and he reluctantly. However, he does throw himself into impersonating St. Marine-de-la-mer with a great deal of relish, in a scene that is reminiscent of Holy Fools, which I believe was written much earlier than this novel. There is also the possibility that she could go to Claude Brismand for help - after all, he did send her gifts whilst she was away on the mainland, and he has been trying to help the stubborn GrosJean. Yet something keeps Mado away from pursuing this route - most likely the traditional rivalry between the Salannais and the Houssins. Despite this hostility with their close neighbours, everyone seems to embrace and like the Englishman Flynn, who has made himself useful by his seeming ability to fix almost anything. As he and Mado work with the villagers to build an artificial reef to protect Les Salants, Mado feels herself drawing closer to him (perhaps helped by her abilities as an artist!), but notwithstanding his friendliness, he seems determined to push her away from building a more substantial relationship. Despite her heroic efforts for Les Salants, Mado still feels like an outsider. Les Salants is after all, a fishing community, whose people wage a daily battle against the sea. There is also the spectre of her withdrawn father, who can only acknowledge his love for her accidentally. Then there is the visit from Adrienne, the favoured child to contend with, even more so since her two young children are boys, and it has always been evident that GrosJean would much rather have had a son for a second child than a girl, no matter how tomboyish Mado ever became. Yet life for Les Salants is looking up. Old feuds are buried as the village graveyard is recovered from the sea, and the inhabitants begin to think more of the 'deserters' on the mainland than the deceased, like GrosJean's brother. The Salannais are also being coming under attack from the more malicious elements of the Houssins, such is their success. The Salannais even dream of stealing the tourists from La Houssiniere. 'Coastliners' has been criticised in some quarters for being too dark, yet not even Chocolat was all that light and frothy. If Joanne Harris ever goes for Romance, then it tends to be of the Gothic variety, as Holy Fools proves. The theme of painting was also explored in the excellent Sleep Pale Sister, and Joanne Harris's first novel Evil Seed, and with the French setting, 'Coastliners' can be seen to fit very well into the Joanne Harris canon, despite the welcome respite from the gastronomic theme that got a little too risible in Five Quarters of the Orange. However, what really keeps you turning the pages here is the dense and intriguing plot, which generates quite a few surprises for our little Mado. She's no Vianne, but you really do feel for her by the end of this extraordinary novel. This book gave me some much-needed entertainment, and I can safely that I really enjoyed the voyage.
Rating:
Summary: Dark Chocolat
Review: I found myself skimming my way through 'Coastliners' with the exact same speed that I had devoured Holy Fools. The island in question, Le Devin, was of course, mentioned in Holy Fools, and it's not long before our heroine, Mado, has bumped into a couple of Carmelite nuns on her first visit home in ten years. The mother who took her away from Le Devin has passed away, and Mado's only immediate family is her father, GrosJean Prasteau, and her sister, Adrienne. Whilst Mado is not exactly loquacious, GrosJean is even more silent and barely says anything, even when he is around. Adrienne is also away, living in Tangiers, but Mado and she have never got on. Adrienne was the eldest child who was so beloved that she even got a present on Mado's birthday, not that she repays such spoiling in later years by attending, say, her own mother's funeral. Adrienne also married outside Les Salants, the little settlement on Le Devin where the Prasteaus have always lived. Her union with Marin Brismand, the nephew and heir of the richest man on Le Devin, is seen as a good match, despite the fact that the Brismands have always come from La Houssiniere, the other village on Le Devin, whose inhabitants sometimes take on those of Les Salants in war. However, Les Salants looks to be losing this war of attrition, as their land is subject to flooding from the sea, whilst La Houssiniere is protected by its sandbanks. It also helps that Claude Brismand is so wealthy, that he can afford to build a jetty and run a ferry to bring the tourists in. Despite the periodic invasions of day-trippers, both Les Salants and La Houssiniere are threatened by the loss of the young people, who go off to the mainland seeking a more exciting and stable life. Les Salants and its inhabitants have been literally decaying, as Mado discovers when she returns. Very few of the cottages in Les Salants are being maintained, due to the continual incursions from the sea, and it is evident that the little village is losing in its war of attrition. However, despite this, there are still a few young people around, such as the enigmatic Flynn, who has been helping Mado's father... It's probably not a good omen that practically the first thing Mado does when she arrives is to surprise her father so much that he drops the beloved statue of St. Marine-de-la-mer into the sea (the villagers are carrying the statue as they are celebrating the saint's festival). Seeing that everything has so stagnated since she has left, Mado embarks on an attempt to save the village, although none of the inhabitants are much interested as they are too busy fighting each other from decades' old feuds. Mado thinks that she has found a way to protect the village from the perennial floods from the sea, but only Flynn aids her, and he reluctantly. However, he does throw himself into impersonating St. Marine-de-la-mer with a great deal of relish, in a scene that is reminiscent of Holy Fools, which I believe was written much earlier than this novel. There is also the possibility that she could go to Claude Brismand for help - after all, he did send her gifts whilst she was away on the mainland, and he has been trying to help the stubborn GrosJean. Yet something keeps Mado away from pursuing this route - most likely the traditional rivalry between the Salannais and the Houssins. Despite this hostility with their close neighbours, everyone seems to embrace and like the Englishman Flynn, who has made himself useful by his seeming ability to fix almost anything. As he and Mado work with the villagers to build an artificial reef to protect Les Salants, Mado feels herself drawing closer to him (perhaps helped by her abilities as an artist!), but notwithstanding his friendliness, he seems determined to push her away from building a more substantial relationship. Despite her heroic efforts for Les Salants, Mado still feels like an outsider. Les Salants is after all, a fishing community, whose people wage a daily battle against the sea. There is also the spectre of her withdrawn father, who can only acknowledge his love for her accidentally. Then there is the visit from Adrienne, the favoured child to contend with, even more so since her two young children are boys, and it has always been evident that GrosJean would much rather have had a son for a second child than a girl, no matter how tomboyish Mado ever became. Yet life for Les Salants is looking up. Old feuds are buried as the village graveyard is recovered from the sea, and the inhabitants begin to think more of the 'deserters' on the mainland than the deceased, like GrosJean's brother. The Salannais are also being coming under attack from the more malicious elements of the Houssins, such is their success. The Salannais even dream of stealing the tourists from La Houssiniere. 'Coastliners' has been criticised in some quarters for being too dark, yet not even Chocolat was all that light and frothy. If Joanne Harris ever goes for Romance, then it tends to be of the Gothic variety, as Holy Fools proves. The theme of painting was also explored in the excellent Sleep Pale Sister, and Joanne Harris's first novel Evil Seed, and with the French setting, 'Coastliners' can be seen to fit very well into the Joanne Harris canon, despite the welcome respite from the gastronomic theme that got a little too risible in Five Quarters of the Orange. However, what really keeps you turning the pages here is the dense and intriguing plot, which generates quite a few surprises for our little Mado. She's no Vianne, but you really do feel for her by the end of this extraordinary novel. This book gave me some much-needed entertainment, and I can safely that I really enjoyed the voyage.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING!!!
Review: I made the mistake of buying the unabridged version. I have never listened to a more boring book on tape in my life. You had to be French or know French to even understand or like the story. It was a complete waste of my money and listening time. There was no story, just hours of listening to how a coastline is being washed away. Save your money!
Rating:
Summary: "Everything returns."
Review: It's a maxim. Like the wrecked boats, jetsam, fisherman lost at sea, everything returns to the French island of La Devin eventually, including Harris's narrator, Madeleine ("Mado") Prasteau. Feeling the pull of the island after living in Paris for ten years, Mado returns to her childhood village of Les Salants, where seabirds yark angrily at one another in the salty, weed-scented air, and omens ride the waves like gulls. Upon her arrival, she encounters economic rivalry between the villages of Les Salants and La Houssiniere, family rivalry between her "undemonstrative" father, GrosJean and Brismand, and sibling rivalry with her older sister, Adrienne. For Mado, her return proves to be an experience that leaves her feeling "overwhelmed." "I was spinning," she says midway through the novel, "too fast for the center of me to hold. I felt that at any moment I might explode like a rocket, scrawling my name in stars across the dazzling sky" (p. 238). By the end of Harris's engaging and often poetic novel, Mado finds redemption. In her novels, Joanne Harris evokes a sensual response from her reader, and COASTLINERS is no exception. Whereas CHOCOLAT (1999) was sweet and FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE (2001) was somewhat tart and bittersweet, COASTLINERS is salty with the satisfying flavor of wild garlic. G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: Worth Its Weight in Sel de Mer
Review: Joanne Harris has a wonderful way of creating a novel that revolves around something magical where the main character, although faced with some implacable obstacle, doesn't lose faith and in the process of solving the story's main plot issue, reintroduces him/herself to the new person that has immerged from within. "Coastliners" is just such a story. Mado, has returned to the northern French island of Le Devin whose livelihood relies on the bounty of the island saint who controls the tides and the erosion of the island's beaches. Upset by the dissentigration of Les Salants, her hometown, she devises a way to bring the heart back into the village, by stealing the beach back from the rival village on the other side of the island. With the help of an Anglo drifter, she finds a way to unite the feuding families of her home and infuse them and herself with a faith in the future.
Harris' strong suit is her wonderfully fleshed-out characterizations of the island inhabitants. The Greek chorus of the two nuns, the oldest woman in the community, the old man with the wooden leg as well as Mado's father, Grosjean and the rival merchant Claude Brissmand are all worth their weight in sel de mer. Her weak point however, is her tendency to get a bit preachy still in Mado's voice towards the end of the novel when this character begins to think of herself as a part of the village and not just an instrument of change---the John Dunne quote of "no man is an island" rings a little shrilly here, the bell tolling allusion even used within the story to signal the villagers to connect in action.
If you are a fan of Harris' other novels, you will also recognize a pattern, the protagonist always has a wicked and prosperous adversary, the secondary players squabble like children until the narrator finds a way to use their diversity to create an infallable unit, the love interest has questionable motives and a penchant for bending the law to his advantage---in 'Coastliners' all this works wonderfully well as it did in "Chocolat" and "Five Quarters of the Orange". Also at the conclusion, the islanders face too much strife which detracts from the ebb and flow of the main story. The author's motivation to show too much cooperation during these misfortunes admirably shows the development towards that greater village good, but it goes on too long---one disaster scene would have played just as well. In addition, the focal point of many unknown secrets seems to be given a rather rushed denoument also towards the end of the story--whereas, hints of these hidden motivations, although suggested rather slighly, should have been advertisized a bit more blatantly with more of a sprinkling throughout the entire story.
In spite of these flaws at the novel's end, 'Coastliners' is still a marvelous story in which to get lost. Harris has a way with words, her descriptions take you to the coast where the surf rushes around your ankles and draws you in deep. Listen to the unabridged audio version; the reader does a great job of adding vibrance to each villager's voice.
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