A BOOK REVIEW : BLACKBERRY WINE BY JOANNE HARRIS

Hello dear readers and fellow bloggers! Today I'll be reviewing a novel titled Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris. I'm quite fond of magical realism, but this was my first encounter with this author. I have to admit that what attracted me to this book was the beautiful cover. The author name (Joanne Harris) didn't ring familiar. On the cover, she was mentioned as the author of Chocolat. That did ring a bell. Naturally, I've heard about Chocolat the movie. Who hasn't? However, I have neither read the novel nor watched the movie adaptation (featuring Juliette Binoche and John Depp). Still, I had seen the trailer for the film enough times to remember what it was about generally speaking. So, having observed the cover and reading the blurb, I wondered what this novel would be like. Would wine play a similar role as chocolate in the other book? Would it find ways to human hearts? Would it be a romantic book? Would I learn something about French culture?

Besides the book review there will also be a bit of fashion in this post. The beautiful lilac dress I choose to wear to present this book is from a local designer Stanka Zovko. I paired it with a statement necklace, a black bag and gold sandals. Isn't it simply the perfect summer dress? See yesterday post for another of Stanka Zovko creations. Alright, now let's get back to reviewing Blackberry Wine. 

BLACKBERRY WINE, A NOVEL BY JOANNE HARRIS 3.5/5

JOANNE HARRIS, THE ENGLISH- FRENCH WRITER KNOWN FOR WRITING STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS

As I said, this was my first book by this author. Joanne Harris is an English- French writer. Her father was British, while her mother was French, a fact that seems to play a big role in her writing. From what I noticed from this novel, Joanne seems very knowledgeable about both the British and French culture. What particularly impressed me is how she understand that different generations of British and French people belong to different cultures.  Culture is dynamic and different generations can perceive it quite differently. Moreover, Joanne Harris is simply wonderful at contrasting these two cultures in her writing. Considering Harries has grown up with both of these cultures, I imagine she drew from personal experience a lot.

A NOVEL THAT KEPT ME INTERESTED BUT WHOSE PLOT DIDN'T IMPRESS ME

I quite enjoyed this novel, especially one character (more about that later). It wasn't as good as I think it could have been, but it was still pretty good. I suppose that like with Elephant Moon, I felt like this was a novel that didn't fully live up to its potential. I felt like the writer sacrificed potential depth for entertainment. Let me explain. There is a series of events in this novel that while interesting to read about seemed to take away from the magic of this book. I wanted to know more about Giddy and Joe, characters from the past of the protagonist. The whole plot of the book (the one dealing with present day events seemed a bit predictable to me).

THE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK- WINE AS THE STORYTELLER

The narrator of this book is a bottle of wine. It's been with the protagonist Jay for a long time. It tells us stories about his past. It talks with other wines in Jay's collection. Making a wine bottle the narrator of the story was an interesting choice. A lesser writer would make some of the wine world play and metaphor's tacky. Joanne Harris makes it work. Her descriptions are rich and imaginative. At times, the story flows effortlessly. 

DIVIDED NARRATIVE- THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

The story-telling in Blackberry Wine isn't linear. One chapter is written from the present perspective of the protagonist Jay (now a man in his thirties) and the other from Jay the adolescent. It was a bit confusing at times, I have to admit. I was almost tempted to read the chapters separately, to read about Jay the adult first and then to read the adolescent version. I fought the temptation and I'm glad I did because the split narrative started to make more sense as the novel progressed. 

MAGIC REALISM IN BLACKBERRY WINE

Let's starts with some of the novel's strengths. The magic realism works quite well in this one. Those parts of the novel that could be described as magic realism were wonderful. They are possibly my favourite parts of this book. Joe is the central figure of magic realism in this novel. His spirit appears to Jay the adult and the memories of Jay the adolescent have a magical element to them. Jay present life lacks any romanticism, but his past seems to be full of magic. Another element of magic realism are the Specials- wine bottles made my Joe. As the protagonist opens the bottles, he finds something akin to magic in them.

“And yet I could still hear them. As if some part of their essence had evaporated into the air, become a part of this place, ingrained, like the scent of cigarettes and burning sugar, in the woodwork and plaster. Everything was buzzing with that vanished presence, buzzing and singing and laughing louder than ever before, stone and tile and polished wood, all whispering with agitation and excitement; never still, never silent.”
― Joanne Harris, Blackberry Wine

“Wine talks; ask anyone. The oracle at the street corner; the uninvited guest at the wedding feast; the holy fool. It ventriloquizes. It has a million voices. It unleashes the tongue, teasing out secrets you never meant to tell, secrets you never knew. It shouts, rants, whispers. It speaks of great plans, tragic loves and terrible betrayals. It screams with laughter. It chuckles softly to itself. It weeps in front of its own reflection. It revives summers long past and memories best forgotten. Every bottle a whiff of other times, other places, every one- from the commonest Liebfraumilch to the imperious Vueve Clicquot- a humble miracle. Everyday magic, Joe had called it. The transformation of base matter into the stuff of dreams. Layman's alchemy.
Take these six in Jay's cellar, for instance. The Specials. Not wines really meant for keeping, but he kept them all the same. For nostalgia's sake. For a special, yet-to-be-imagined occasion. Six bottles, each with its own small handwritten label and sealed with candle wax. Each had a cord of a different color knotted around its neck; raspberry red, elderflower green, blackberry blue, rose hip yellow, damson black. The last bottle was tied with a brown cord. Specials '75, said the label, the familiar writing faded to the color of old tea.”
― Joanne Harris, Blackberry Wine

THE PROTAGONIST OF THE NOVEL & THE SETTING OF THE SCENE

The protagonist of the novel is a man in his thirties-Jay. He is currently in a relationship with an ambitious young woman who doesn't love him very much- and no wonder. Jay writes second rate books now and drink his feelings away.“He drank, for the same reason he wrote second-rate science fiction. Not to forget but to remember, to open the past and find himself there again. He opened each bottle, began each story with the secret conviction that here was the magic drought that would restore him. But magic, like wine, needs the right conditions in order to work.” After Jay's first novel that was a great success, he hasn't written anything of the value. He is trapped in his past. “So much of his life seemed to be like this now, a blur of days without anything to define them from each other, like episodes of a soap he watched out of habit, even though none of the characters interested him.”

 His success novel talked of Joe Jackapple, an old gardener that saved young Jay from all kinds of trouble during his adolescence (his young summers). What happened to Joe? The reader might ask- and the answer to understanding Jay is tied with that question. After a short introduction to the empty life of Jay, the novel takes of when Jay (having drank one of the Specials) decided to buy a house in France and leave his girlfriend- all in search of Joe. Now, all that makes sense. I enjoyed following Jay on his journey. However, what I found more interesting (and better written) was the account of young Jay. I simply didn't see any character development in adult Jay. I think he could have been written better.

THE NOVEL'S STRENGTHS AND ITS WEAKNESSES

Let's first have a look at the description of this book as I found it on goodreads: 

Jay Mackintosh is trapped by memory 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 the French village of Lansquenet , 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 shuters. Between them, a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic?

Jay Mackintosh is indeed trapped by his memory.  I understand that he was written as a troubled adult, a writer who longs for his childhood and has some unresolved feelings about it, but he is hard to relate too. I mean, there aren't too many great characteristics about him. At times Jay just comes of as too whiny and passive. His young persona is interesting and the flaws he has at that age are a natural consequence of development. Rage and anger young Jay feels seem genuine- and definitely pardonable.  Jay the adult doesn't seem all that charming I have to say. What I found confusing is why Marise seems to establish contact with him. It doesn't seem to make sense. I didn't sense chemistry between them. I get that Marise is supposed to be this strong female character, mysterious and attractive but her relationship with Jay just doesn't seem to make sense.

STRENGTHS OF BLACKBERRY WINE:

- THE WELL DEVELOPED CHARACTERS OF JOE & GILLY

- POETICAL PROSE AND WELL APPLIED TOUCHES OF MAGIC REALISM

WEAKNESS OF BLACKBERRY WINE:

- PREDICTABLE PLOT

- UNDEVELOPED CHARACTERS BORDERING ON CARICATURES

- DEUX ET MACHINA ENDING

JOE THE GARDENER, BASED ON THE AUTHOR'S GRANDFATHER

Joe was my favourite character in the whole book. Joe was a miner all his life, but he read National Geographic and that was his ticket around the world. Joe is an amazing gardener but he is also a fascination person. He changes Jay's life. Moreover, once Jay finds a friend- a fascinating girl named Gilly- Joe becomes a friend to her as well. Joe seems to be a magical influence in everyone's life. He gives away what he grows in his garden, rather than selling it. Joe's personality is described so well . Despite all the magic talk, Joe seems the most real and rounded character in the book. His characterization was impressive, especially in comparison with other characters.

“Joe had always pretended indifference to flowers. He preferred fruit trees, herbs and vegetables, things to be picked and harvested, stored, dried, pickled, bottled, pulped, made into wine. But there were always flowers in his garden all thee same. Planted as if on an afterthought: dahlias, poppies, lavender, hollyhocks. Roses twined among the tomatoes. Sweet peas among the bean poles. Part of it was camouflage, of course. Part of it a lure for bees. But the truth was that Joe liked flowers, and was reluctant even to pull weeds.
Jay would not have seen the rose garden if he had not known where to look. The wall against which the roses had once been trained had been partly knocked down, leaving an irregular section of brick about fifteen feet long. Greenery had shot up it, almost reaching the top, creating a dense thicket in which he hardly recognized the roses themselves. With the shears he clipped a few briars free and revealed a single large red rose almost touching the ground.
"Old rose," remarked Joe, peering closer. "Best kind for cookin'. You should try makin' some rose petal jam. Champion."
Jay wielded the shears again, pulling the tendrils away from the bush. He could see more rosebuds now, tight and green away from the sun. The scent from the open flower was light and earthy.”

When Joe and the protagonist of this novel met, he teaches him all about gardening but also about life. The protagonist is a young boy at the time, a lonely boy ignored by both of his parents. Joe is the magic that helps him survive adolescence. His summer with Joe become something he honestly looks forward to.

“The jackapples were long and red and oddly pointed at one end. One or two had been cut open as Joe dug them up, showing flesh which looked tropically pink in the sun. The boy staggered a little under the weight of the box.
"Watch your step," called Joe. "Don't drop 'em. They'll bruise."
"But these are just potatoes."
"Aye," said Joe, without taking his eyes from the vegetable cutter.
"I thought you said they were apples, or something."
"Jacks. Spuds. Taters. Jackapples. Poms de Tair."
"Don't look like much to me," said Jay.
Joe shook his head and began to feed the roots into the vegetable cutter. Their scent was sweetish, like papaya.
"I brought seeds for these home from South America after the war," he said. "Grew 'em right here in my back garden. Took me five years just to get the soil right. If you want roasters, you grow King Edwards. If you want salads, it's your Charlottes or your Jerseys. If it's chippers you're after, then it's your Maris Piper. But these..." He reached down to pick one up, rubbing the blackened ball of his thumb lovingly across the pinkish skin. "Older than New York, so old it doesn't even have an English name. Seed more precious than powdered gold. These aren't just potatoes, lad." He shook his head again, his eyes brimful of laughter under the thick gray brows. "These are me Specials."
Jay watched him cautiously. "So what are you making?" he asked at last.
Joe tossed the last jackapple into the cutter and grinned. "Wine, lad. Wine.”

― Joanne Harris, Blackberry Wine

If you love gardening, you will enjoy reading about Joe. I love that he was based on real person, it really shows. As I repeated a couple of times, Joe is the best part of this novel. 

“He always planted at a new moon and picked when the moon was full. He had a lunar chart in his greenhouse, each day marked in a dozen different inks; brown for potatoes, yellow for parsnips, orange for carrots. Watering too was done to an astrological schedule, as was the pruning and positioning of trees. And the garden thrived on this eccentric treatment, growing strong, luxuriant rows of cabbages and turnips, carrots which were sweet and succulent and mysteriously free of slugs, trees whose branches fairly touched the ground under the weight of apples, pears, plums, cherries. Brightly colored Oriental-looking signs taped to tree branches supposedly kept the birds from eating the fruit. Astrological symbols- painstakingly constructed from pieces of broken pottery and colored glass set into the gravel path- lined the garden beds.”
― Joanne Harris, Blackberry Wine

THE FRENCH VILLAGE AND THE LOVE STORY PART OF THE PLOT

The French village this novel takes place in is actually the same as in Harris famous novel that focuses on chocolate: “Later, over his favorite grand crème in the Café des Marauds, he was listening with half an ear to Joséphine as she told him the story of the village's first chocolate festival and the resistance it had met from the church. The coffee was good, sprinkled with shavings of dark chocolate and with a cinnamon biscuit by the side of the cup. Narcisse was sitting opposite with his usual seed catalogue and a café-cassis.”

I love how the author described the small French village Jay moves into with some much love. I absolutely loved those descriptions. Some of the characters were well described.  On the other hand, some of the characters in the village (as well as Jay's ex-girlfriend) were mere caricatures. Cardboard villains felt out of place in this novel. Not to mention of the lack of character development on Jay's part. I found it very unrealistic to see how quickly the villagers took to him, especially so the mysterious woman. There was no chemistry in the love story for me, it was all too predicable and obvious. Marise comes off as completely cold at the beginning but everyone can see it is not so. She didn't seem that mysterious to me. I only wish Marise underwent some character development, something that would explain why she suddenly warms up to Jay. The daughter of the mysterious French woman Marise had great potential as character, but unfortunately it wasn't developed. I did enjoy a few touching descriptions that focused on the love between mother and daughter. I wish the writer focused more on the character and less on making this book a page turner. 

The events that take place and the struggles Jay goes through seemed too convenient for the plot. Many details about Jay's story don't seem to add up. On the other hand, I found Jay's writing struggles quite believable. His relationship with Joe and his fight with his past is something that effected his writing, so that part was nicely done. It is easy to Jay as a writer and to want for him to write his next 'real' book. So, the ending surprised me a little bit.  Without revealing too much, I'll just say that I found it hard to believe. 

“You don't write because someone sets assignments! You write because you need to write, or because you hope someone will listen or because writing will mend something broken inside you or bring something back to life.”

This was a novel I simply couldn't put down, one that I liked despite its flaws. If you like magic realism, wine or gardening, this is a novel for you. As long as you don't mine some weakness in the plot, you will enjoy this one. 

Thank you so much for visiting and reading. Have a lovely day!