Most Popular Books by Joanne Harris

When the exotic stranger Vianne Rocher arrives in the old French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique called “La Celeste Praline” directly across the square from the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock. It is the beginning of Lent: the traditional season of self-denial. The priest says she’ll be out of business by Easter. To make matters worse, Vianne does not go to church and has a penchant for superstition. Like her mother, she can read Tarot cards. But she begins to win over customers with her smiles, her intuition for everyone’s favourites, and her delightful confections. Her shop provides a place, too, for secrets to be whispered, grievances aired. She begins to shake up the rigid morality of the community. Vianne’s plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community. Can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate éclair? For the first time, here is a novel in which chocolate enjoys its true importance, emerging as an agent of transformation. Rich, clever, and mischievous, reminiscent of a folk tale or fable, this is a triumphant read with a memorable character at its heart. Says Harris: “You might see [Vianne] as an archetype or a mythical figure. I prefer to see her as the lone gunslinger who blows into the town, has a showdown with the man in the black hat, then moves on relentless. But on another level she is a perfectly real person with real insecurities and a very human desire for love and acceptance. Her qualities too - kindness, love, tolerance - are very human.” Vianne and her young daughter Anouk, come into town on Shrove Tuesday. “Carnivals make us uneasy,” says Harris, “because of what they represent: the residual memory of blood sacrifice (it is after all from the word "carne" that the term arises), of pagan celebration. And they represent a loss of inhibition; carnival time is a time at which almost anything is possible.” The book became an international best-seller, and was optioned to film quickly. The Oscar-nominated movie, with its star-studded cast including Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) and Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love), was directed by Lasse Hallstrom, whose previous film The Cider House Rules (based on a John Irving novel) also looks at issues of community and moral standards, though in a less lighthearted vein. The idea for the book came from a comment her husband made one day while he was immersed in a football game on TV. “It was a throwaway comment, designed to annoy and it did. It was along the lines of...Chocolate is to women what football is to men…” The idea stuck, and Harris began thinking that “people have these conflicting feelings about chocolate, and that a lot of people who have very little else in common relate to chocolate in more or less the same kind of way. It became a kind of challenge to see exactly how much of a story I could get which was uniquely centred around chocolate.” Rich with metaphor and gorgeous writing...sit back and gorge yourself on Chocolat.

''Twist follows twist and nothing is what it seems'' ALEX MICHAELIDES ''Exhilarating, addictive, fierce'' BRIDGET COLLINS ''A psychological thriller you can''t put down'' HARLAN COBEN ''Dark, Gothic, and propulsively readable'' RUTH WARE ''A dark and richly enjoyable novel that already feels like a classic'' ELLY GRIFFITHS * * * * * Now I''m in charge, the gates are my gates. The rules are my rules. It''s an incendiary moment for St Oswald''s school. For the first time in its history, a headmistress is in power, the gates opening to girls. Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely forty, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered. But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She''ll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before. After all... You can''t keep a good woman down. * * * * * Praise for Joanne Harris''s other books set in the St Oswald''s world: ''A masterpiece of misdirection'' Val McDermid ''Delivers an almighty twist . . . brilliantly atmospheric '' The Times ''[A] gripping psychological thriller . . . Harris is one of our most accomplished novelists'' Daily Express ''[A] delicious black comedy'' Daily Mail

A bold and timely novel that explores how women can feel invisible as they grow older—and what happens when they decide to take back control. Bernie Moon''s ambitions and dreams have been forgotten by everyone, even Bernie herself. At nineteen she was full of promise, but now, facing fifty and going through the menopause, she''s a fading light. Until the murder of a woman in a local park unlocks a series of childhood memories, and with them, a talent that she has hidden all her adult life. What happens when the frustrations and power of an older woman are finally given their chance to be revealed? Filled with growth and redemption, revenge and visibility, friendship and self-discovery, Broken Light is an explosive new thriller that challenges our notions of womanhood and power.

Each of the twenty-two tales in this enchanting collection is a surprise and a delight, melding the poignant and the possible with the outrageous, the magical, and, sometimes, the eerily haunting. Wolf men, dolphin women, defiant old ladies, and middle-aged manufacturers of erotic leatherwear -- in Jigs & Reels the miraculous goes hand in hand with the mundane, the sour with the sweet, and the beautiful, the grotesque, the seductive, and the disturbing are never more than one step away. Whether she''s exploring the myth of beauty, the pain of infidelity, or the wonder of late-life romance, Joanne Harris once again proves herself a master of the storyteller''s trade.

Turn the page, and step into a stunning, evocative world where nature, magic and fate are inextricably linked, and one wrong - or right - step can take you from the modern world into one filled with both danger and wonder. This beautiful volume contains the award-winning novellas A Pocketful of Crows, The Blue Salt Road and Orfeia. Fully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, with a brand new introduction by the author and three original short stories, this is a landmark collection which gloriously reimagines traditional British folktales into a timely, relevant and powerful new stories. ''Perfect reading for a chilly autumn evening'' thesenovelthoughts ''Stunning and original modern fairytales'' calturnerreviews ''Thought-provoking and evocative'' Tor.com

Once there was a widow with three sons, and their names were Black, Brown and Blue. Black was the eldest; moody and aggressive. Brown was the middle child, timid and dull. But Blue was his mother''s favourite. And he was a murderer.

The "New York Times"-bestselling author returns with an exquisite treat that continues the story begun in her novel, "Chocolat."

Try me . . . test me . . . taste me . . . Joanne Harris’s Chocolat trilogy has tantalized readers with its sensuous descriptions of chocolate since it was first published. Now, to celebrate the much-loved story of Vianne Rocher’s deliciously decadent chocolaterie, Joanne Harris and Fran Warde have created the ultimate book of chocolate lore and recipes from around the world, bringing a touch of magic to your kitchen.

Originally published: Great Britain: Doubleday, 2016.

DISAPPEAR INTO THE WORLD OF THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING CHOCOLAT . . . ''So wise, so atmospheric, so beautifully written'' Marian Keyes ''The most magical, stunningly beautiful novel'' Joanna Cannon ''It will intrigue and charm readers every bit as much as Chocolat'' Monica Ali --------------------------- Faith. Secret. Magic. Murder...? Vianne Rocher has settled down. Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, the place that once rejected her, has finally become her home. With Rosette, her youngest child, she runs her chocolate shop in the square, talks to her friends on the river, is part of the community. Even Reynaud, the priest, has become a friend. But when old Narcisse, the florist, dies, leaving a parcel of land to Rosette and a written confession to Reynaud, the life of the sleepy village is once more thrown into disarray. Then the opening of a mysterious new shop in the place of the florist''s across the square - one that mirrors the chocolaterie, and has a strange appeal of its own - seems to herald a change: a confrontation, a turbulence - even, perhaps, a murder . . . What will the wind blow in today? --------------------------- Return to the world of the multi-million-copy bestselling Chocolat.... ''A writer whose wit and sharp observation enhances her engaging story-telling'' Salley Vickers ''The most magical, stunningly beautiful novel . . . I sobbed at the end because I couldn''t bear to leave. Joanne is truly one of the world''s finest storytellers'' Joanna Cannon ''A place of magic and mysteries, and Harris excels in this delicate balance of realism and enchantment . . . It will intrigue and charm readers every bit as much as Chocolat'' Monica Ali ''Sheer pleasure from start to finish. The Strawberry Thief is a delight'' James Runcie ''I devoured it in one go'' Christopher Fowler ''Compelling, captivating, incredibly moving, The Strawberry Thief whirls you into a thrilling world you will never forget . . . A perfect novel that shimmers with brilliance and truth'' Kate Williams

Maddy Smith, who bears the mysterious mark of a rune on her hand, learns that she is destined to join the gods of Norse mythology and play a role in the fate of the world.

The New York Times bestselling author takes a riveting new direction with this richly textured, multi-layered novel of friendship, murder, revenge, and class conflict set in an upper-crust English school—as enthralling and haunting as Ian McKewan’s Atonement and Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley Audere, agere, auferre. To dare, to strive, to conquer. For generations, elite young men have attended St. Oswald’s School for Boys, groomed for success by the likes of Roy Straitley, the eccentric classics teacher who has been a revered fixture for more than 30 years. But this year, things are different. Suits, paperwork, and Information Technology rule the world, and Straitley is reluctantly contemplating retirement. He is joined in this, his 99th, term by five new faculty members, including one who—unknown to Straitley and everyone else—holds intimate and dangerous knowledge of St. Ozzie’s ways and secrets, it’s comforts and conceits. Harboring dark ties to the school’s past, this young teacher has arrived with one terrible goal: Destroy St. Oswald’s. As the new term gets underway, a number of incidents befall students and faculty alike. Beginning as small annoyances—a lost pen, a misplaced coffee mug—they soon escalate to the life threatening. With the school unraveling, only Straitley stands in the way of St. Ozzie’s ruin. But the old man faces a formidable opponent—a master player with a strategy that has been meticulously planned to the final move. A harrowing tale of cat and mouse told in alternating voices, this riveting, hypnotically atmospheric novel showcases Joanne Harris’s astonishing storytelling talent as never before.

This publication is not for sale to libraries. When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock. Can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate eclair?

Mado has been adrift for too long. After ten years in Paris, she returns to the small island of Le Devin, the home that has haunted her since she left. Le Devin is shaped somewhat like a sleeping woman. At her head is the village of Les Salants, while its more prosperous rival, La Houssinière, lies at her feet. Yet even though you can walk from one to the other in an hour, they are worlds apart. And now Mado is back in Les Salants hoping to reconcile with her estranged father. But what she doesn''t realize is that it is not only her father whose trust she must regain.

The squabbling Norse gods and goddesses of Runemarks are back! And there''s a feisty new heroine on the scene: Maggie, a girl the same age as Maddy but brought up a world apart - literally, in World''s End, the focus of the Order in which Maddy was raised. Now the Order is destroyed, Chaos is filling the vacuum left behind... and is breaching the everyday world. A chilling prophecy from the Oracle. A conflict between two girls. And with just twelve days to stave off the Apocalypse, carnage is about to be unleashed . . .

Before the sweet delight of Chocolat, before the heady concoction that is Blackberry Wine, and before the tart pleasures of Five Quarters of the Orange, bestselling author Joanne Harris wrote Sleep, Pale Sister -- a gothic tourde-force that recalls the powerfully dark sensibility of her novel Holy Fools. Originally published in 1994 -- and never before available in the United States -- Sleep, Pale Sister is a hypnotically atmospheric story set in nineteenth century London. When puritanical artist Henry Chester sees delicate child beauty Effie, he makes her his favorite model and, before long, his bride. But Henry, volatile and repressed, is in love with an ideal. Passive, docile, and asexual, the woman he projects onto Effie is far from the woman she really is. And when Effie begins to discover the murderous depths of Henry''s hypocrisy, her latent passion will rise to the surface. Sleep, Pale Sister combines the ethereal beauty of a Pre-Raphaelite painting with a chilling high gothic tale and is a testament to Harris''s brimming cornucopia of talents. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat, presents her most accomplished novel yet -- an intoxicating concoction that blends theology and reason, deception and masquerade, with a dash of whimsical humor and a soupçon of sensuality. Britanny, 1610. Juliette, a one-time actress and rope dancer, is forced to seek refuge among the sisters of the abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer. Reinventing herself as Soeur Auguste, Juliette makes a new life for herself and her young daughter, Fleur. But when the kindly abbess dies, Juliette''s comfortable existence begins to unravel. The abbey''s new leader is the daughter of a corrupt noble family, and she arrives with a ghost from Juliette''s past -- Guy LeMerle, a man she has every reason to fear and hate. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

I am as brown as brown can be, And my eyes as black as sloe; I am as brisk as brisk can be, And wild as forest doe. (The Child Ballads, 295) So begins a beautiful tale of love, loss and revenge. Following the seasons, A Pocketful of Crows balances youth and age, wisdom and passion and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless wild girl. Only love could draw her into the world of named, tamed things. And it seems only revenge will be powerful enough to let her escape. Beautifully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, this is a stunning and original modern fairytale.

Tom is a photographer and dreamer, capturing snapshots of the city around him, talking to the people on the fringes of his world, always searching for something he knows is missing but can never quite grasp. He speaks to a beggar. He saves a woman from a gang on a darkened alley. He takes his photos . . . but only as he develops the negatives does he see the magical, hidden world he has brushed up against in all its beauty, and menace, and danger. And deep in those negatives is the clue he needs to continue his search: a midnight, moonlit market in the secret heart of London, where everything is for sale and anything is possible . . . Praise for Joanne Harris: ''Perfect reading for a chilly autumn evening'' thesenovelthoughts ''Thought-provoking and evocative'' Tor.com

Anouchka, Madame Douazan, Great-Aunt Simone... These are not characters from one of Joanne Harris''s novels, they are the inspiration for a mouth-watering celebration of French cuisine. For, like Framboise, the heroine of Five Quarters of the Orange, Joanne Harris has family recipes that have been passed down through the generations, and she shares them with us now. From Grandmother''s Festival Loaf to traditional French classics like Moules Mariniere or Daube of Beef, The French Kitchen is a tantalizing collection of casseroles, soups, roast, salads, tarts and sweets.A collaboration between a writer who loves food and a former chef who loves writing about food, The French Kitchen gathers together simple yet stylish recipes from the heart of a French family.

From the author of Chocolat, an intoxicating fairy tale of alchemy and love where wine is the magic elixir. Jay Mackintosh is a 37-year-old has-been writer from London. Fourteen years have passed since his first novel, Jackapple Joe, won the Prix Goncourt. His only happiness comes from dreaming about the golden summers of his boyhood that he spent in the company of an eccentric vintner who was the inspiration of Jay''s debut novel, but who one day mysteriously vanished. Under the strange effects of a bottle of Joe''s ''75 Special, Jay decides to purchase a derelict yet promising château in Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. There, a ghost from his past waits to confront him, and his new neighbour, the reclusive Marise - haunted, lovely and dangerous - hides a terrible secret behind her closed shutters. Between them, there seems to be a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic? Joanne Harris''s previous novel, Chocolat, was both a dazzling literary success and a commercial triumph. Chocolat, the major motion picture directed by Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules), was released in December 2000, starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Dame Judy Dench, Alfred Molina, and Lena Olin.

After a years long absence, chocolatier Vianne Rocher returns to the village of Lansquenet in south-west France, to find that newcomers from North Africa have brought big changes to the community, and a minaret is now situated next to the church of Saint-Jerome, calling people to prayer.

''I''m still rather fond of this first book of mine, in spite of all the time that has elapsed, and in spite of the way my style has evolved.'' Joanne Harris Caution - May contain vampires. It''s never easy to face the fact that a man you once loved passionately has found the girl of his dreams, as Alice discovers when Joe introduces her to his new girlfriend. Then Alice finds an old diary and reads about two men and the mysterious woman who bewitched them both, buried in Grantchester churchyard half a century ago. As the stories seem to intertwine, Alice comes to realize that her instinctive hatred of Joe''s new girlfriend may not just be due to jealousy, as she is plunged into a nightmare world of obsession, revenge, seduction - and blood.

An earthly nourris sits and sings And aye she sings, "Ba lilly wean, Little ken I my bairn''s father, Far less the land that he staps in. (Child Ballad, no. 113) So begins a stunning tale of love, loss and revenge, against a powerful backdrop of adventure on the high seas, and drama on the land. The Blue Salt Road balances passion and loss, love and violence and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless, wild young man. Passion drew him to a new world, and trickery has kept him there - without his memories, separated from his own people. But as he finds his way in this dangerous new way of life, so he learns that his notions of home, and your people, might not be as fixed as he believed. Beautifully illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, this is a stunning and original modern fairytale.

The sequel to Chocolat.

From the author of "Chocolat" comes an "unexpectedly sweet and powerful" ("New York Times") novel of a widow in her sixties returning to the French town she left as a child, and the clues to long-kept secrets she finds in her mother''s recipe scrapbook.