Holy Fools
Joanne Harris
(Reviewer - Gail Evans)
2004 William Morrow
ISBN: 0060559128

A 17th century actress & rope dancer seeks refuge in a convent.

Set in France, against a backdrop of witch trials, regicide & religious frenzy, this is the story of Juliette, one-time actress & rope-dancer, who is forced by circumstance to abandon the traveling life & seek refuge among the sisters of the remote abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer.

Associate Reviewer Gail Evans writes:

I bought this book on a Friday afternoon, & started on the first page at 9.00 on Saturday morning, devoured every chapter & was finished in time to take my family out to dinner that evening. Holy Fools is a paltry 430 pages & I was not bored for one single minute, nor did I scan any paragraphs, which says a lot about the author's ability to keep you glued from plot, to sub-plots to denouement.

Holy Fools has all the Joanne Harris trademarks: set in France; a single mother with a daughter; intrigue; street theatre; cocking a snoot at the orthodox Church; & the ever present underlying pagan worship of the Great Goddess which sustains & maintains her lead character, Juliette, through diversity.

Holy Fools does more than entertain, it brings into question our character, our personality & how it can change & become warped when confronted by adversity & the need for self-preservation. It is easy to be a good upstanding, magnanimous person when things are going well, but can we hold onto integrity & kindness when they do not? How far are we prepared to be bribed before we can stand up & say no to what we know is inherently wrong & corrupt?

All the characters in this tale of intrigue & suspense, set in the grounds of a convent, are tempted in one way or another with their own weaknesses, their flaws & their ability to resist temptation. & the catalyst? A ghost from Juliette's past, Guy LeMerle, masquerading as a cleric. His arrival overturns what once was a peaceful, loving haven into an atmosphere of malicious intent, petty rivalries & murder. Guy clearly has a hidden agenda as he wrecks havoc in the nuns' lives, leaving pain, agony & destruction in his wake, & it is up to Juliette to uncover his plans in order to save the women she has come to know & care for, as well as saving herself.

I highly recommend Holy Fools.

More from Joanne Harris:
Chocolat
Blackberry Wine
Five Quarters of the Orange
My French Kitchen
Coastliners

(02/08/04)

Gail Evans
2004©Gail Evans
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I currently live in Johannesburg, South Africa & am the author of: The Firstborn of God: Resolving the Contradictions In The Bible, Time Trials & Meditations In My Favourite Places In Southern Africa.