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57th out of 350 books
—
116 voters
Holy Fools
With her internationally bestselling novels Chocolat, Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, and Coastliners, Joanne Harris has woven intoxicating spells that celebrate the sensuous while exposing the passion, secrets, and folly beneath the surface of rustic village life. In Holy Fools, her most ambitious and accomplished novel to date, she transports us back to a t...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
February 3rd 2004
by William Morrow
(first published 2003)
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I have mixed feelings about this book. It was a nice contrast and complement after
The Pillars of the Earth
, as that book was set in a monastery in England and this one in a convent in France, though 500 years later. I have not read Chocolat by Harris, but of course I have seen the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book is quite different—much darker and without a satisfactory ending (in my opinion). I liked the character development of Juliette and the fact that she found peace and comunity...more
This book is quite different—much darker and without a satisfactory ending (in my opinion). I liked the character development of Juliette and the fact that she found peace and comunity...more
This thriller wasn't really thrilling. The only thing that made me keep reading was that I wanted to know if Juliette will be reunited with her daughter Fleur in the end. Although I'm not a mother yet I can understand her loss. In the second part the story condensed and quickened, and therefore became a bit more interesting.
I didn't like the very ending, though. Cannot understand Juliettes decision on the last page.
I must admit that I don't like historic novles much in general, and it's quite co...more
I didn't like the very ending, though. Cannot understand Juliettes decision on the last page.
I must admit that I don't like historic novles much in general, and it's quite co...more
I loved the movie “Chocolat,” based on a book by Joanne Harris. So when I found a deal on “Holy Fools” I jumped at the chance to get to know her work. I’d have to say, this book was an excellent place for me to start. After all, it is set in a convent, and I did grow up Catholic.
Of course, this is no modern convent with girls’ high school attached, but rather a beautifully isolated place in seventeenth century France. The fact that I’ve taken vacations in the area only added to the attraction, a...more
Of course, this is no modern convent with girls’ high school attached, but rather a beautifully isolated place in seventeenth century France. The fact that I’ve taken vacations in the area only added to the attraction, a...more
Apr 08, 2013
Bookguide
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Bookguide by:
ScottishHoosier
The sumptuous cover is possibly the best thing about this book, which seems a rather callous thing to say as the book itself is also good. If it had been written by anybody but Joanne Harris, I may well have been writing a rave review, but after reading 'Chocolat' and 'Five Quarters of an Orange' and loving both, 'Holy Fools' was a disappointment. I found it slow-going, and the promise of fascinating stories surrounding life with the travelling players were not realised. Juliette's past has to b...more
A gorgeous, compelling story set in mediaeval France, Holy Fools has all the ingredients I love in Joanne Harris’s books. There’s a strong, complex heroine with pagan inclinations, a few villains, a slightly gothic setting, and a lot of less than comfortable reflections on the human condition. Harris has a very warts and all approach to portraying people. She doesn’t tend to do clear lines between the wholly good and the wholly bad, and I love this about her work.
One of the themes running throug...more
One of the themes running throug...more
‘Time’s black rosary counts the interminable seconds.’
In 17th Century France, Soeur Auguste lives a gentle, generous life in the remote island abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer, together with her daughter, Fleur. She is loved and valued by her sisters in faith, as much for her skills with medicinal plants as for her sweet and kindly nature. But Soeur Auguste is hiding a secret. She is not the impoverished widow of her ‘cover story,’ but Juliette, a one-time gypsy and circus performer, forced by th...more
In 17th Century France, Soeur Auguste lives a gentle, generous life in the remote island abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer, together with her daughter, Fleur. She is loved and valued by her sisters in faith, as much for her skills with medicinal plants as for her sweet and kindly nature. But Soeur Auguste is hiding a secret. She is not the impoverished widow of her ‘cover story,’ but Juliette, a one-time gypsy and circus performer, forced by th...more
Although I really enjoy reading Harris’s works, I’m beginning to wonder if she has something against the Catholic church. In the majority of the books I’ve read written by her, someone or something from the Catholic church ends up being the baddie, and the Church itself is inevitably portrayed as corrupted and judgmental. I’m not Catholic, but I’d hope that someone who is as lovely an author as she is could branch out a little in her pool for villains.
This book, while still engaging in much magi...more
This book, while still engaging in much magi...more
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The isolated convent of Ste. Marie de Mer is an ideal refuge for Juliette, once a gypsy player and the famous acrobat L'Ailee. She has fled to this obscure haven to bear her daughter, Fleur, and to heal from the betrayals of her former life. She most particularly wishes to forget La Merle, the Blackbird, leader of her former troupe, her sometime lover and her betrayer. But all idylls end, and with the death of kind and frail Mere Marie, the elderly abbess, come changes that will profoundly alter...more
Joanne Harris has an exceptional ability to write well about widely diverse subjects, and this is yet another example of her skill at work.
Once again, as with most of Joanne Harris's writing, there's a French connection. This time it's the early seventeenth century, and an unlikely nun whose history has included being a travelling acrobat and bearing a child, Fleur, before dangerous times force her to seek sanctuary.
But changes are afoot at the abbey. The kindly reverend mother dies, and her rep...more
Once again, as with most of Joanne Harris's writing, there's a French connection. This time it's the early seventeenth century, and an unlikely nun whose history has included being a travelling acrobat and bearing a child, Fleur, before dangerous times force her to seek sanctuary.
But changes are afoot at the abbey. The kindly reverend mother dies, and her rep...more
Juliette had at one time been a member of several traveling actors' troupes, but now, in 1610, has taken refuge in an island convent off the shore of Brittany. She leads a quiet life among the sisters until the abbess dies, and her replacement, a young girl just twelve years old, takes over with the help of her personal confessor, a man named Guy LeMerle. LeMerle himself had been a member of the same actors' troupe as Juliette, and the two have a lot of history together. She knows that he is up...more
I didn't think I would enjoy reading about 17th Century Brittany but Harris had me hooked at the beginning. Once again she tackles the mystery surrounding the Catholic church and the fine line of being devout and being hungry for power and personal gain. And once again she portrays the life of those who have become outcasts of society but who who have been accepted into the gypsy family no matter what their flaws or quirks.
Pregnant, and seeking refuge,former trapeze performer "l'Ailee" leaves he...more
Pregnant, and seeking refuge,former trapeze performer "l'Ailee" leaves he...more
I approached Holy Fools with interest. Loved the rich cover. Hoped to find out something about the 17th century mindset perhaps, or some local colour (the book's Noirs Moustiers (if I've got that right) is perhaps the current isle of Noirmoutiers. But she utterly failed to grip me. Let's hope it's turned into a film – there are some extraordinary set-piece theatrical scenes, and the characters are colourful if, for me, unbelievable. I have horrid memories of Ken Russell's film about nuns (the wi...more
We read this one for book club June 2008. I really enjoyed this book. I liked it better than Chocolat. Harris has a great skill for putting words together. I really like the story and the writing style in this book. I gave it only four stars because the end kind of drove me nuts. The main character is suppose to be this really strong female, and she does something in the end that I think was beyond foolish, and maybe not so realistic.
Blech. Not very articulate, I know.
Harris has an affinity with certain themes and a section of this story is pretty much the same as Coastliners (apparitions, statues, gullible simple people).
I was actually looking forward to this one, as the main premise was right up my street.
But I have read books with some of the same ingredients that were better (Witch-hunts, zealotry, a religious order housing social castaways who've changed their identity, the downfall of said order through painful expos...more
Harris has an affinity with certain themes and a section of this story is pretty much the same as Coastliners (apparitions, statues, gullible simple people).
I was actually looking forward to this one, as the main premise was right up my street.
But I have read books with some of the same ingredients that were better (Witch-hunts, zealotry, a religious order housing social castaways who've changed their identity, the downfall of said order through painful expos...more
Feb 05, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
With few exceptions, critics agree that Harris's new novel is just as sumptuous as Chocolat, Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, and Coastliners. Much more than a tale of revenge and redemption, Holy Fools delves into maternal bonds, love and betrayal, 17th-century politics, and the abusive power of the church. Harris varies her theatrical retelling of Juliette's story with flashbacks, journal entries, and even LeMerle's own voice, giving the novel depth but some unwelcome frenzy. LeMe
...more
This book is set in seventeenth century France in an out of the way monastery by the sea. When Juliette finds herself pregnant she escapes her life as a gypsy and tightrope walker to lead a peaceful and serene life at the monastery. She tends to her garden and her daughter and teaches the novices to read Latin.
All is well until the abbess dies and the new abbess who is only eleven comes with an old acquaintance, Le Merle. He is posing as a priest but has the most evil of agendas. Juliette, now S...more
All is well until the abbess dies and the new abbess who is only eleven comes with an old acquaintance, Le Merle. He is posing as a priest but has the most evil of agendas. Juliette, now S...more
This is the first book by Joanne Harris I've read and I enjoyed it. I like a good historical novel, immersing myself in the time and place and imagining the sights and smells of the time. The setting for this book was well described and made it easy for me to picture the scenes as the book developed.
Juliette's story is told in the first person and I loved the description of her early life and the story unfolding through her eyes.
However, I wasn't keen on it switching to LeMerle's POV, though by...more
Juliette's story is told in the first person and I loved the description of her early life and the story unfolding through her eyes.
However, I wasn't keen on it switching to LeMerle's POV, though by...more
Voltei a este livro, que já tinha lido há uns anos atrás, porque não me apetecia ler nada do que tinha aqui em casa, e voltar a ler Joanne Harris, para mim é sempre um prazer - já perdi conta às vezes que reli Cinco Quartos de Laranja... Escolhi este, porque me lembro que, dos livros das Joanne Harris, foi aquele que menos me encantou. Na altura culpei a forma como o tinha lido, muito à pressa, talvez não na melhor altura. Por isso estava na hora de lhe dar uma segunda oportunidade. :)
Li-o como...more
Li-o como...more
Apr 26, 2009
PurplyCookie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
witchcraft,
religious
Set in Brittany during the 1600s, "Holy Fools" is principally the story of two engaging characters: a gypsy-born nun with pagan ideas, hiding behind her veil the secrets of her adventuresome past as a famous acrobat, and a consummate actor who wears many faces -- even to himself -- and to whom all of life is but a high-stakes game.
The two of them, incredibly well-drawn, carry the story, narrating it alternately in shorter and shorter chapters, as the plot unfolds with increasing urgency, mirror...more
The two of them, incredibly well-drawn, carry the story, narrating it alternately in shorter and shorter chapters, as the plot unfolds with increasing urgency, mirror...more
Joanne Harris can spin a tale! I was totally captivated by this magical, medieval story that follows two adversaries who both love and vie with each other. Juliette is a high-wire artist who was raised as a gypsy. She seeks refuge at the Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer when she becomes pregnant with her baby Fleur. She enjoys the quiet life there, tending her herbs, etc., until she once again comes in contact with the Blackbird, the conniving and cruel, yet charming Guy LeMerle, who shows up dis...more
Holy Fools is an exquisitely written book by Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat.
The main character, Juliette, flees a circus troupe in 1610 Brittany to take refuge in the abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer. Her life there with her little daughter, Fleur, is idyllic until the Rev. Mother dies.
With the coming of a new abbess, Juliette loses her daughter and is drawn into a world of superstition, theology, suicide, apparitions, fear and witchcraft. With the new abbess and into her convent world of n...more
The main character, Juliette, flees a circus troupe in 1610 Brittany to take refuge in the abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer. Her life there with her little daughter, Fleur, is idyllic until the Rev. Mother dies.
With the coming of a new abbess, Juliette loses her daughter and is drawn into a world of superstition, theology, suicide, apparitions, fear and witchcraft. With the new abbess and into her convent world of n...more
So, at least I've come to read Joanne Harris' newest book. It was just as great as the previous ones. What is clear is that JH always writes about the same themes: searching for a home, settling down, running away from the past, relationship to dead mother, mystical elements... an so on.
This time the book is set in yet an other time, year 1610, but is still in France of course. The main character is called Juliette, and is a former rope-dancer from a circus. She seeks refuge in a remote Abbey w...more
This time the book is set in yet an other time, year 1610, but is still in France of course. The main character is called Juliette, and is a former rope-dancer from a circus. She seeks refuge in a remote Abbey w...more
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I really like the way this author uses a symbol at the beginning of each chapter to represent the narrator in that chapter. Saves a lot of confusion trying to figure out what's going on.
Historical fiction~France, 1605. A young woman, pregnant and alone, finds sanctuary in a convent on an island off the coast of France. After the birth of her daughter the young woman becomes Soeur Auguste and adjusts to life at the secluded Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer. Thinking she is safe from the evils of h...more
Historical fiction~France, 1605. A young woman, pregnant and alone, finds sanctuary in a convent on an island off the coast of France. After the birth of her daughter the young woman becomes Soeur Auguste and adjusts to life at the secluded Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer. Thinking she is safe from the evils of h...more
Set in a convent in 17th century France, through the eyes of Juliette who arrived 5 years earlier pregnant and needing succor. She builds a life with her daughter Fleur under the realm of the nuns until one day her hidden, sordid past comes knocking in disguise.
There are many tricks played on these nuns, some so far fetched I found it irritating that the portrayal of these woman of cloth would be so impressionable and awfully gullible to believe the tricks are from the devil. No one questions. N...more
There are many tricks played on these nuns, some so far fetched I found it irritating that the portrayal of these woman of cloth would be so impressionable and awfully gullible to believe the tricks are from the devil. No one questions. N...more
I enjoyed this book, though I didn't feel that it lived up to Chocolat or Five Quarters of the Orange. It was an easy read, enjoyable, but the time period made it seem a little hard to be realistic in the storytelling.
I did especially like Juliette throughout most of the story, I enjoyed her logic, her realism, her everyday use of magic and her constant references to the scientific education she had as a child. In the end she did disappoint me because she was weak willed and forgave much too ea...more
I did especially like Juliette throughout most of the story, I enjoyed her logic, her realism, her everyday use of magic and her constant references to the scientific education she had as a child. In the end she did disappoint me because she was weak willed and forgave much too ea...more
In this wonderful, unorthodox love story with a delicious twist, you'll wonder why you're starting to fall so deeply under the spell of the designated villain. Set in an abbey on a tiny, backwater Breton island in 1610 France, its heroine Juliette, called L'Ailée ("The Winged One"), a former aerialist with a troupe of gypsy-like performers, is attempting to pass herself off as a young nun to raise her small daughter in peace — until the past comes calling in the person of the rakish and sinister...more
A sweet book, knocked it off in a day and a half, it didn't leave me with the same pleasant aftertaste as Harris's other books. The characters are given generous back story yet for me, lacked emotional depth. Tales a plenty but motivations absent. Only at the end do we see a glimmer of a history that could have made le Merle fascinating, but it comes as too little too late. I don't agree with reviews that promise insight into the church and 17th century politics. Harris doesn't delve into these...more
"Five Quarters of the Orange" is an amazing book, and "Gentlemen and Players" is great. Because of those two, I picked up several other Joanne Harris novels. This one is only the third I have read, and it is not my favorite, but it did keep me interested. The shock at the end didn't seem as dramatic as it was set up to be. And the epilogue reminded me of some movies with twist endings, like Malice with Alec Baldwin or Body Heat with Kathleen Turner. Psychologically interesting, especially for th...more
Fools is darker than some of Harris' earlier work, and her treatment of the psychology of group dynamics here is intriguing and realistic.
1 like · like · see review
Early on, I loved this book. Interestingly, I picked it up off the shelf without knowing it was by Joanne Harris; I read several pages, and then thought, "This reminds me of CHOCOLAT!" Sure enough: same writer. I love her style, which has a bit of magical realism to it, reminding me of Jeanette Winterson in the days of her magical historical explorations, THE PASSION and SEXING THE CHERRY. Therefore, I was a little disappointed when the entire plot came off seeming a little contrived, rather pas...more
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Joanne Harris was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels; The Evil Seed (1989), Sle...more
More about Joanne Harris...
Joanne Harris was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels; The Evil Seed (1989), Sle...more
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