"Blackberry wine": summary. "Blackberry Wine" by Joanne Harris: reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Joan Harris writes magical realism novels. In them, she talks about the ordinary life of a person whose fate suddenly includes a miracle, and he needs to make a choice - to recognize the fact that magic exists, or pretend that nothing happened, and live on in his everyday world. The heroes of the writer do not hesitate to choose the opportunity to touch the magic. This is exactly what is told in the novel "Blackberry Wine", which received rave reviews.

Biography of Joan Harris

The writer was born in 1964 in the UK, in the small town of Barnsley. Father is English and mother was French. Therefore, in her novels, the action often takes place in France. In the works of the writer there is a lot of personal, including a certain split. Joan lives with her family in England, but at the same time she is drawn to her mother's homeland. The same tractioncharacteristic of its characters. This happens, for example, with the main character in Harris' Blackberry Wine.

After graduating from girls' school, Joan went on to college in Cambridge where she studied medieval and modern languages.

Before embarking on a career as a writer, Harris went through several careers, teaching French literature at a university, teaching at an all-boys school for 15 years, and even being a shop assistant for a while.

The beginning of a writing career

In one of her interviews, Harris told how, at the age of 7, she suddenly decided that she would become a writer.

Then my mother showed her a shelf of books by French poets of the 19th century and said that most of them died in poverty, because their works did not bring them any income. Starting to write, the author of the famous mystical novels tries to prove to his mother that she was wrong. But her mother still continues to think that writing is not a profession, and comforts her daughter, saying that she will always be taken back as a teacher.

Unsuccessful debut

The first book written by Joan Harris was not successful. It was the novel Heavenly Girlfriend, published in 1989. It was about the immortal Rosemary and her vampire friends. Despite the trendy theme of vampirism, the book did not impress readers. The same fate awaited the next novel - "Sleep, pale sister", written in the Gothic style.

A long-awaited success

And only the third book, "Chocolate", created in the style of a mystical melodrama,was a resounding success and brought the author wide fame. Perhaps, only the next novel, “Blackberry Wine” by Joan Harris, could surpass the popularity of the story about the fate of a young woman with a child who boldly violated the usual gray everyday life of a small town. An interesting fact - the first three books were written during the years of work at a boys' school in the north of England. By the way, Harris has a book dedicated to this educational institution, where there were six female teachers for 250 male teachers.

Blackberry Wine: Novel Summary

For Joan Harris, France is the place where the heroes of her works constantly strive and where the action most often unfolds. Undoubtedly, the fact that the writer's mother is French plays a decisive role in this. France will also be present in Blackberry Wine. The summary of the book cannot, of course, convey all its amazing, magical atmosphere.

What is she talking about? This is the story of the writer Jay Mackintosh, who wrote a wonderful book many years ago, so good that he won a prestigious award for it. Readers and publishers have been waiting for new bestsellers from him for a long time, but this did not happen. Macintosh was no longer able to write anything remotely resembling his famous book. He retrained as a small science fiction writer. This job brought a small income, and Jay could continue to indulge in his favorite pastime - wines. No, he was not a drunkard, but a small supply of alcohol was always kept in a small basement.

And then one day he accidentally takes blackberry wine instead of an ordinary bottle - the one that was made many years ago by his best friend, an old gardener who grew a vegetable garden and a garden on an abandoned plot near the old railway station. Young Jay, who came with his mother to a new city after his parents divorced, found in him not only a true friend, but also a teacher.

"Blackberry Wine" tells that it's never too late to change and start life from scratch. This also happened to the hero of the novel. After tasting a drink made many years ago by an old friend, Jay felt the urge to change. He came across a message about the sale of a large house with a plot and a garden somewhere in France. Mackintosh was struck by the resemblance of the structure to his friend's hideout. And he makes an unexpected decision for himself - he buys this house and moves into it to live. In a new place, magic enters the life of Jay McIntosh.

An interesting detail: Blackberry Wine is narrated from the point of view of a bottle of Fleury.

Reader Opinion

The novel "Blackberry Wine", reviews of which were overwhelmingly enthusiastic, was warmly received by both readers and critics. It was immediately noticeable how much the talent and skill of the writer had grown. If Harris's first two books were like angular, clumsy, and slightly funny teenagers, then Chocolate and Blackberry Wine can be compared to a young woman who has not yet reached the full flowering of her beauty, but who is aware of what she is capable of. And she knows what she wants out of life.

Readers note that "Blackberry Wine", like other novels, has a special atmosphere of tastes and smells. If in the previous work it was the alluring aroma of chocolate, then here the taste of wine comes first. Moreover, he seems terrible to the main character, but attractive. Everyone else finds it unusual and pleasant. And the thing is that it gives anyone who has tried it the opportunity to remember the most important moments of their childhood or youth for a few minutes. This is the magic of wine in the novel by Joan Harris.

She knows how to present magic as an everyday occurrence. When an old acquaintance of his who taught him gardening appears before Mackintosh, Jay at first cannot understand whether the ghost is in front of him or the jokes of his imagination. But he does not even think about how surprising this situation is, because he is glad to see his teacher and he does not care what form he appears in front of him.

What readers also like about the novel are the descriptions of French nature and its wonderful little villages, where life is slow, people are friendly, and mores are patriarchal.

Screen adaptations of books by Joan Harris

So far only one work of the writer has received this honor - “Chocolate”. The main roles in the film were played by Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, which to a large extent determined the popularity of the picture.

New works by the master of mystical realism

The writer works very fruitfully. She manages to release a novel, or even two a year, makes worktrips to different cities and countries and does not forget about his hobbies for music and the Old Norse language.

In June 2010, Joan Harris visited Russia for the first time. She was overwhelmed by the success she had with fans here. She liked Moscow so much that instead of the usual working trip, she decided to arrange a whole excursion for herself: she visited museums and bookstores, sat in cafes and drove through the streets of the city.

In 2011, the book "Runelight" was published, which has not yet been translated into Russian. The next year was more productive - two Harris novels saw the light at once. These were "Peaches for Monsieur Cure", the third part of the continuation of the story started in "Chocolate", and the collection of short stories "The Cat, the Hat and the Piece of Rope".

In 2014, the fantasy novel "The Gospel of Loki" was released - a story about the Norse gods. Its main character is the cunning Loki. Unfortunately, the book has not yet been translated into Russian.

The family of the writer and her non-standard hobbies

The life of a writer is not boring. When she has some free time, she relaxes by playing bass guitar in a band she joined at the age of 16.

Blackberry Wine by Joan Harris is somewhat autobiographical. There are many similarities between its main character and the author. Mackintosh won the Prix Goncourt, and Harris has been on the jury for such writing competitions. His hobbies are wine and agriculture, which give him peace. For the writer, the outlet is playing the guitar and learning Old Norse.

Music gave the writer not only the opportunity to express herself - she introduced the girl to her future husband, and the couple has been living happily for many years. Joan was in love with the band's drummer, learned to play the guitar for him, became a member of this band, and then married him.

Joan Harris lives in England with her husband and daughter.