Rating: 
Summary: Five Quarters of the Book
Review: This is the second Harris book I read, and not as good as Blackberry Wine but still incredible. Framboise and her mother were vicious, not the kind of character you would normally meet. It is about Framboise (French of "Raspberry") and her life during world war 2.Like Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange stuck with me. I will never look at oranges the same again. Framboise was delightful to read about. I loved how strong she was, how she never let the little things get to her but deep down remained sensitive. She was unlike any character I've read about before. Very fresh. Very mean. Very real. Framboise was so real, in fact, that I lusted for her as though I had met her. This was really a wonderful book, and would go over well in a Highschool classroom.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful, unconventional mother-daughter tale
Review: First things first: the writing in this novel is absolutely breathtaking. Harris's descriptions of the French countryside, the native cuisine, even the shabby little farmhouse are to be read slowly, savored and read again. Reading this novel is almost like reading a beautiful love song to France. Apart from the beautiful setting, there are really two, amazing intertwined stories unfolding before the reader's eyes. One, set in modern times, is the tale of a 65-year-old Framboise, who returns to her childhood farmhouse after a long exile. She opens a wonderful creperie but keeps to herself, afraid of alerting the townfolk to the fact that she is the same Framboise who left the town in disgrace with her family when she was nine years old. The second tale tells the source of that disgrace. It is told through the eyes of nine-year-old Framboise during a summer of Nazi occupation of France. She and her siblings befriend a German soldier and tragedy unfolds. The novel jumps from one of these stories to another. The always constant elements are that of Framboise's mother's wonderful recipes. Through these recipes we learn of Framboise's mother's character, which is spiteful, cruel, but contains unexpected elements and depth. Other readers have disclosed the title's origins, but I wish they hadn't. Learning of Framboise's actions with the orange was one of the most dramatic and horrifying elements of the novel for me, and some reviewers ruined the surprise. This is a wonderfully-structured, imaginitive tale that will leave you longing for French food and to feel the August sun on your back.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: This is a book that, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get into. I could not sympathise with any of the characters, and the plot just did not grab me. Perhaps someone will like this more than I did...I couldn't even finish it.
Rating: 
Summary: Bittersweet
Review: This was my least favorite of the Joanne Harris books I've read. The writing, as always, is lyrical and evocative, but the tale is hard and brittle. I'm the author of a book for mothers, NEW PSALMS FOR NEW MOMS: A KEEPSAKE JOURNAL, and it is difficult for me to read about such a lack of maternal feeling. Much of the book gave me a chill.
Rating:
Summary: Read straight through in one day
Review: If you haven't read the book don't read too many comments here. A lot of people give too much of the book away. I read this book straight through in one day. I haven't done that since I was a kid. It seems all I read now are technical computer books for work so this was a real delight. I recommend it to everyone. I read it so my wife and I could do something together and finished it before she got home from her book club. What a beautiful book, what a refreshing change of pace. I am eager to read fiction again. Thank you Joanne.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting read!
Review: I almost didn't read this book ~~ not so soon after Coastliners ~~ but I am real glad that I picked this book up. It is very riveting and keeps me reading ~~ it's a sure read from page one to the last page. It is such a wonderful book ~~ sly, witty and yet there was a sense of release at the end of the book. Like the Old Mother, a pike that has lived in the river in this book for decades, this book grabbed me and wouldn't let go like a fishhook! Framboise Simon returns to a small village on the banks of the Loire ~~ she wanted to fix up her old farmhouse that was her home during WWII and live out the rest of her days there. Only the secrets of her past returns to haunt her. Undaunted by blackmail though fearful ~~ Framboise had to make a decision on whether or not to reveal all. Only she knows the real story behind the Nazi SS execution of ten village men. Only she knows the secret behind her mother's sorrow. And that secret had permeated her whole life till there was nothing left of the youth she once was ~~ and this is the story. Harris moves from past to present very smoothly ~~ garnering the reader's interest from one page to another ~~ and this is a guaranteed read, in my opinion. The foods she mention in this book is mouth-watering ~~ I had heck of a time not eating out my fridge throughout reading this book! The recipes, the slight poetry of Framboise's mother's writings, the secrets and the sorrow ~~ all kept me coming back for more like an addict. This book is well-worth your time and effort in reading! It is one of my favorite reads this year!...
Rating:
Summary: Better than Chocolat!
Review: Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris Here is another wonderful book written by Joanne Harris that had me reading non-stop til the very end. As with CHOCOLAT, Harris places this story in France, but unlike CHOCOLAT that had elements of fantasy sprinkled in, FIVE QUARTERS OF AN ORANGE was more grounded in reality. Sixty-ish Framboise Simon is trying to rebuild a life for herself in the little French village where she grew up in before and during WW II. It is difficult, as memories of her childhood continue to haunt her, memories that her children know nothing about. The story is told in flashbacks, where she talks about her family's involvement with the Nazi officers that were living stationed in her area of France. She as a child, along with her brother and sister, were very involved with the officers, not realizing the consequences of their actions. They spent their days trading with the Germans, and Framboise was secretly in love with one soldier in particular, Tomas, who she had secret fantasies about. In her new life, her neighbors do not know who she is, for if they did they would probably have her run out of the country. Instead, they know her only for her delicious baked goods that she sells out of her shop. She is a harmless old woman. The story is cleverly told, and is a much more complex novel than Chocolat. The themes of betrayal of one's country and family relationships are intertwined, as we learn about Framboise's interesting past. Her relationship with her mother is dealt with the most, explaining why Framboise turned out the way she did. What I loved most though is Harris' fascination with food, and how she seems to find a way to bring it into the story line! I highly recommend this book, as it was one of my top 20 reads of 2003.
Rating:
Summary: 3 1/2 stars. A history of complicated family dynamics
Review: After 50-some years, Framboise Dartigen, now in her 60's, disguises her real identity and returns to her home village in the south of France to rebuild the burntdown family farmhouse in order to live out the rest of her life there. A sour women despite her sweet name (Framboise means raspberry in French) Framboise has a secret that stems back to her childhood during WWII, living in German-occupied France with her brother, sister and mother. She and her siblings forged a friendship with a German soldier, Tomas, with whom they would trade villagers' secrets for goodies such as chocolates and comic books. A series of events ultimately lead to tragedy and in telling the story Framboise slowly reveals the follies and uncertainties the war brought to their daily lives. Framboise's mother, an emotionally stern woman who kept a diary filled with often undecipherable notes, words, recipes, and secrets and who willed this diary to Framboise upon her death, was frequently taken with debilitating migraines and often spent days at a time in bed. Just prior to the migraine coming on, her mother would think she smelled oranges in the house. The title refers to the way Framboise, at the age of six, would instigate her mother's migraines by hiding orange slices in the house which would send her mother into a debilitated state and would enable Framboise and her siblings to spend the day/night out with Tomas. The history of this family's dynamics, especially the relationship between Framboise and her mother, is a complicated story well told. Harris uses the sensualities of food - mostly the sweetness of the fruits that the Dartigens grew on their farm - to juxtapose the emotional hardships and hostilities of love and of war and the disenchantedness and consequences that result from this environment. I would have liked to have seen Harris spend a little more time on Framboise's relationship to her own daughters in the present which is touched upon but never really explored. There is also a subplot concerning Framboise's brother and nephew (also in present day), which Harris uses as a catalyst for Framboise to tell her story but which was unnecesarily overwritten and which, for me, distracted from the richer narrative at hand. Overall, a fine book, not an uplifting one but one which does have warmth in unexpected places.
Rating:
Summary: ~Exceptional~
Review: ~I cannot give enough kudos to this the first book I have read by Joanne Harris. The cast of characters entrall you and you find that you can't wait to find out how this story will unfold. I now look forward to reading her other books Chocolat and Blackberry Wine. Be good to yourself and don't pass this one by.
Rating:
Summary: Spell-binding!
Review: From the very first pages, Harris casts a spell around the reader and it is just not possible to let go of the book until one has finished it! It is beautifully written, captures your full attention and makes you totally involved. The statement about how "good writing makes you care about the characters and what happens to them" is so true in this book! When you finish it, you'll rush to get the next Joanne Harris book, and believe me, you won't be able to wait for the paperback edition!
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