Customer Reviews

Holy Fools

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have a weakness for quality historical fiction and HOLY FOOLS certainly satisfied my cravings. Set on the remote rocky seashore near Brittany, France in 1605 this novel tells the story of a young woman and her child who have taken refuge from her past in a dilapidated abbey. After five years of posing in her new identity as Soeur Auguste she begins to believe that she has escaped her former life as a member of a traveling carnival that often flirted with the law. But the past comes to haunt her as her former lover and nemesis Guy LeMerle under a new disguise has arrived at the abbey with his own plans for sweet revenge.

Joanne Harris successfully brings to life the superstitions and witchcraft of early 17th century Europe. I enjoyed the rustic setting: unpredictable weather and the forces of Mother Nature along with the force of wind and rain that has beaten the alley over the decades.

HOLY FOOLS is a suspenseful book that contains plenty of plot twists and turns. I surely didn't know how it was going to end until the last couple pages. While I question some of the historical details I managed to look past them and enjoy it without picking it apart. It's a good and satisfying book. Enjoy!

Set in 1600s Brittany, 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, mirroring the events it details. They tell a tale of secrets and revenge, of religious zeal and the ways it can be corrupted, of intrigues that grow into accusations, cruelty that cuts more subtly than any knife, kindnesses that carry a terrible price, and -- the thread that binds it all together -- of the caprice of love, which cannot always be defined -- or denied.

The book is poetic, and I feel inclined to review it as such, but here is the short version: HOLY FOOLS is very, very good. I have yet to read Ms. Harris' famous CHOCOLAT or FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE, but it is evident from this novel that her writing talents extend far beyond food and love and forgiveness, and far into the darkness and mystery of what it means to be human.

Having read all the books by this author, I consider Holy Fools to be her best effort since Chocolat. This work has all the intensity and mystery of the earlier bestseller: the disdain for religious hypocrisy, the secrets of the past, and the uncertainty of malicious intent. The delicious sensuality and humor are replaced by aerial acrobatics and macabre apparitions. The story takes place in 1610, and is recounted by a gypsy named Juliette. (Are we surprised that she reads tarot cards, creates herbal charms, and brews medicinal concoctions?) She recounts her previous years as a traveling performer in a troupe led by the charismatic Guy LeMerle; haunted by memories of his ultimate betrayal, she seeks refuge and anonymity in a forgotten abbey. When a disguised LeMerle unexpectedly turns up there, the intrigue, and battle of wits and wills begins. The writing is wonderful, evoking strong images. And the characters are complex, torn between warring loyalties. As we have come to expect from Harris, this is a compelling tale, told in her trademark style.

Holy Fools marks a return to the Gothic theme of Joanne Harris' best novels, 'Chocolat' and 'Sleep Pale Sister'. It is also a triumphant return to form. Holy Fools is so richly Gothic that it must have Matthew 'Monk' Lewis cooing with pleasure in his grave.

Juliette is a former travelling player who has sought refuge at the Abbey of St. Marie-de-la-mer with her daughter Fleur (and this novel makes you understand why theatre troupes were sometimes feared as well as clapped, as they could be bearers of disease, or just common thieves). Under Mere Marie, the regime at the Abbey is rather relaxed, helped by her skill in the nurturing of potatoes. However, after several years, the ageing Mere Marie suddenly passes away, and a new abbess arrives. Everyone is rather taken aback by the youth of the new mother superior, but more so by her prudish nature (she has led a very sheltered life, and thinks that the birds and the bees are mere fauna). Juliette is even more shocked to see the Abbess accompanied by an old adversary, LeMerle, the 'blackbird' that had been her first love, and who had betrayed her and left her for dead. LeMerle is obviously up to no good by posing as a cleric, for Juliette knows him to be a charlatan, and it's not long before he has kidnapped Fleur.

Joanne Harris skilfully portrays Juliette's life prior to meeting LeMerle, and her adventures on the road with his theatrical troupe. As well as performing, LeMerle writes and directs. Unfortunately, his plays and ballets have more than a little satirical edge to them, as LeMerle delights in parodying the rich and famous (which is probably why the performances are so popular with the mob). Unfortunately, he goes too far, and he and his troupe are effectively thrown out of Paris at the height of their fame. But LeMerle does not seem to be downcast by his change in fortunes, as he takes to the road with something approaching glee. Juliette, for her part, reaches the apex of her skills by performing the rope walk, and it amuses LeMerle to see the men in the audience lusting after her. But trouble always seems to be LeMerle's constant companion: some of their caravans are burnt, and one of their troupe is murdered... They fetch up in Epinal and the plague breaks out, and LeMerle is arrested. Fortunately, Judge Remy, the infamous witch persecutor, is away on business, and LeMerle wins the crowd over by selling them an elixir against the plague. But such practices could be seen as diabolical, especially when the infamous pyromaniac judge returns home. LeMerle flees in the ensuing chaos, murdering one of the troupe in the process, and leaves Juliette his lover to capture and almost certain death.

Joanne Harris has chosen her setting well: the Renaissance is full of tales of famous people who risked charges of heresy for their beliefs and actions from the thumbscrews of the Inquisition. One such person was Bruno Giordano, who was burnt at the stake, and whose surname Harris utlises for one of her characters. Although she does twist some of the historic facts to suit her own purposes, such as having a French character quote from the King James Bible in 1610, when the English only published it in 1611. Jean Bodin seems to have a very lively afterlife, and Toussaint Dubreuil's portrait of Isabelle must have been painted when she was very young, as he died in 1602. LeMerle's description of Juliette as 'Hell's catamite' seems perverse even for his standards. Apart from this, the portrait of the time following Henry IV's assassination smacks of authenticity, as does the theme of commedia dell'arte, that really forms the backbone of the novel, leading to the fantastic resolution. By making her Machiavellian villain an actor, Joanne Harris has come out trumps, and LeMerle produces a gloriously over the top performance that does not disappoint. If we're talking Hollywood here ("and why not?", as Barry Norman might say), then I would see LeMerle played by Kevin Spacey (possibly too short) or by John Malkovich, who does that Valmont thing so well (although he would have to get a wig). Juliette, a 'maypole' with red hair, could no doubt be played by Juliet Roberts or 'Juliette' Binoche perhaps? The visuals and gloriously bawdy drama of this fantastic novel are well suited to film, especially when so much of the novel is concerned with the dramatic arts. I enjoyed this novel so much that I read it in almost one sitting, and I could not wait to find out what happened in the end. When I heard that the American publishers had wanted to change the ending, I had thought that they would have gone the other way, but maybe I am confusing their sensibilities with those of Hollywood's love of sequels... This is a very rich and exciting novel, and is just the kind of book that I have longed for Joanne Harris to produce (was a bit concerned to think that she might be forced along the Mary Wesley/Catherine Cookson path). Anyone trying to follow any of Juliette's recipes in this book would indeed be a fool, as most of this food has unpleasant side effects. Hopefully Joanne Harris can make the break away from France in her next novel, as it must be worrying that the covers of Peter Mayle's books are beginning to echo the splendid jacket designs by Stuart Haygarth. Although, having written that, I would love for Joanne Harris to do a French 'Western', as I am pretty sure that this has not been done before. After all, 'New France' covered all of the Americas between Quebec and New Orleans. But Holy Fools is more than enough to sustain me for now.

Holy Fools is written much in the same vein as Harris's first book, Chocolat- with great depth and insight. However, Harris takes her craft to a new height as she explores human passion in this tale of a 17th-century abbey.

The book follows the story of Juliette, who becomes reborn as Souer Aguste. Going from the life of a street performer, in which holy fools, or dwarves, perform, Juliette is betrayed by the man she adores- La Merle. As she flees to an island convent with her young daughter, Juliette changes into Souer Aguste.

When the Mother Abbess dies, a new one is sent in her place- a woman who turns out to be a child who instigates a Great Reform of the abbey. Her confessor, who oversees Mass everyday is none other than La Merle, who quickly has every nun at the convent except Juliette wrapped around his little finger.

This is a poignant tale, about love, loss, betrayal, and the inablity to forgive. Souer Aguste must make decisions which affect deeply herself and the child she loves. This was a touching book, beautifully written and not easily forgettable.

As the clever and resourceful rope dancer L'Ailee of a traveling troupe of actors, Juliette begins her narrative with her own admission that the birth of her daughter, Fleur, five years earlier, has mellowed and changed her. Deeming her old life reckless, she had taken refuge at the solitary Abbey of Sainte Marie de la Mer as Soeur Auguste. For five years she has lived a predictable life of peace until now when the new Reverend Mother and her personal confessor Pere Colombin infiltrate her island retreat. But the good father is no priest, he is LeMerle, a seasoned actor from Juliette's past---the leader of the troupe of players who could have been Fleur's father---a man who has betrayed and murdered whom Juliette both fears and harbors feelings of helpless affection and deep regrettable love. Before Juliette can even imagine what he has come to the Abbey for, she and her daughter are caught as pawns in LeMerle's personal activation of an agenda fed on revenge and anger rooted in LeMerle's shady past.

Like Joanne Harris' other leading ladies, Juliette of 'Holy Fools' delights in being a pragmatic woman on her own who does not hesitate to ameliorate good fortune or banish evil through unconventional means: her gypsy mother's charms, frequent readings of the tarot, the scientific alchemy learned by her childhood tutor and herbal potions galore. Certainly no wallflower, she has no qualms about using her body in lieu of her mind in order to reposition herself positively in the hazardous melange of religious fervor and superstition that defines her world of 16th century France. Her tales are told in flashback to fill the reader in on her assessment of her situation as LeMerle's plot unfurls. Harris masterfully and commendably conveys the poignant wishes of any mother along with the desperation and vulnerability associated with being responsible for another life while using Juliette's voice.

While the reader has no problem understanding Juliette's motivation with regard to Fleur, I think her attraction to LeMerle could have been more chemically described, perhaps in the portions of the story where LeMerle's voice is heard. We hear him as a villain using the superstition of the time to feed old anguish and we comprehend that he does have regrets regarding his reliance on Juliette's reactions in the overall outcome of his plan. While we feel her pain with regard to the loss of her daughter, and her anger in terms of LeMerle's betrayal, we don't quite engage in the elemental love between these two main characters. Granted, the LeMerle character has a lot going on, as does Harris as she attempts to keep the master plan an overall secret, but I still would have liked to feel more of the magnetism between the two. This would have contributed much to the ending, which in itself came as a bit of a surprise only because Juliette shows a little too much of her anger for LeMerle and concern for her daughter rather than reveal that secret part of herself that glows only in LeMerle's presence and may succumb even in the face of motherhood.

In spite of this, I still give the novel 5 stars. Harris simply tells a great story and evokes a France of history. Her use of the Abbey with its tide-dependent causeway set on the Atlantic coast of France near Nantes brings back the familiar sensual pleasures evoked by the same setting in her earlier book "Coastliners." Here the origins of the mermaid-tailed Sainte Marie-de-la-mer from her mythical island of Le Devin is explained and instead of the adorable and disagreeable villagers of Les Salants we are introduced to a community of nuns, all saints and sinners. Instead of the food used as aphrodisiac and appeasement in her food trilogy, Chocolat, Blackberry Wine and Five Quarters of the Orange, we are medicated with Juliette's herbal potions and gypsy cantrips and dazzled by the sights, sounds and scents of the older still mesmerizing Harris portrayal of France. Recommended to all who have loved her other books or to those who love intrigue set in a historical world.

Soeur Auguste is but one of several names assumed by a women in 17th century France, hiding with her daughter within the walls of a convent. She's hiding from a wicked lover and also hiding from her somewhat shabby and sensational past. But the convent proves to be far from an ideal sanctuary, isolated from the real world by the daily ebb and flow of the tides as it is also caught within the ebb and flow of desire, passion, and nearly medieval ignorance. Into this caldron of frustration and confusion come a new abbess and her confessor, who is none other than the wicked lover in disguise.
Sensual, descriptive, mesmerizing, poetic - all of these terms apply to Harris's writing, and her skills do not fail her in Holy Fools

I'm in two minds about Holy Fools. Harris has written a lively, and provocatively imagined story of life, deception, turmoil, and revenge in the seventeenth century but the narrative seems to meander and amble, particularly in the later half of the story. Harris does a good job though of evoking with real authenticity a sense of time and place; the reader is immediately transported to the small Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer and we witness, with power and grace, the life and tribulations of the young widow Juliette as she seeks sanctuary on the island of Noirs Moustiers on the edge of the Brittany coast. The peace that Juliette has found in remote isolation is shattered five years later by the events that follow the death of her kind benefactress, the Reverend Mother.

When a new abbess, Mere Isabelle, the daughter of a corrupt noble family elevated by the murder of King Henri IV, who believes that sin is everywhere, "no one is safe, sin is a plague, and it is contagious", arrives at Sainte Marie-de-la-mer, but she does not arrive alone. With her is her private confessor and saintly guide, Père Colombin, a man Juliette knows from her previous life when she was the "winged one" - a performer, an acrobat and a dancer in his wondering theatre group - a type of commedia dell'arte. Père Colombin or Guy Le Merle as he was once known, is a swindler and seducer now masquerading as a cleric, and he is the one guy she fears more than any other. Le Merle causes mistrust, wickedness and debauchery to spread like a pestilence within the convent's fortifications, and he fuels the nuns with gloomy and shadowy reports of witchcraft and ungodly occurrences, in order to advance his scheme of revenge on the noble family who sort to destroy him at the height of his fame. The dramatic core the novel centers on Juliette's fight to protect herself and her child, l'Ailée and to gain the upper hand against the devilish con artist Le Merle.

Le Merle and Mere Isabelle force the nuns to live in a world of contrition, humility and penance, weary of vanity and adornment. Le Merle is the machiavellian center of the tale and is a man of strange pride. He is Juliette's arch nemesis and her lost love, her "blackbird" of misfortune with a strange marriage of arrogance and knavery. Both understand the nature of revenge, and their tempestuous relationship is ignited by this revelation. Le Merle sees Juliette as his captive - his "bird of prey" one is caged while the other is set free. The themes of life, death and especially revenge permeate the novel as Juliette's best friend Giordano teaches her that "all life is linked; that all terrestrial things are made from the same elemental clay; man woman, stone, water, tree, bird." And these are teachings that are considered heresy in this age of strict fundamental religious adherence. Holy Fools is a quaint and old-world parable on the winds of mischance, and is definitely an entertaining and competent novel, but I just felt it lacked the emotional breadth and the historical depth of a novel like Sara Dunant's The Birth of Venus. Michael Leonard March 04.

Circa 1610, the rocky shore of Brittany houses the dilapidated abbey of Saine-Marie-de-la-Mer, the nuns having made restive peace with their uncompromising land, barely eking out their meager sustenance. One of the newer sisters, Soeur Auguste, lives quietly at the abbey with her five-year-old daughter, Fleur. Formerly known as Juliette, a player with a gypsy caravan of traveling performers, Soeur Auguste has sought respite from the world at large in the harsh confines of the hardscrabble convent life, content to toil side by side with the sisters, who have all come to this place with reasons of their own, from the beautiful Clemente to the religious hysteric, Marguerite, and Soeur Antoine, an overweight baker who assuages her personal sorrows with gluttony. The relative contentment of the abbey changes suddenly with the death of its ancient Reverend Mother and the installation of a new abbess, a mere child of thirteen, Angelique Sainte-Herve Desiree Arnault, Mere Isabelle ("that dreadful little girl").

Accompanying the spoiled and arrogant Mere Isabelle is Pere Colombin, a Reform priest with an agenda of his own, "for all those to whom he has fed the pieces of his bitter heart". It is only Soeur Auguste who recognizes the charismatic priest as her lover from the past, the deliberate and coldly-efficient Guy LeMerle who left her to languish with the traveling troupe when they fell afoul of the law. Whatever LeMerle's reason for disguising himself as a man of God at Saint-Marie-de-la-Mer, Soeur Auguste knows his arrival portends danger for her and her child: "Our time in the sunlight had finally come to an end." As Mere Isabelle begins a rigid reformation of the daily religious practices of the nuns, Pere Colombin dissembles in ever more mysterious ways, banking the embers of hysteria with exquisite exactitude, biding his time until the moment of perfection, carefully orchestrating a subtle power struggle with Mere Isabelle, his little pawn betraying a brittle intelligence, rising up to challenge his authority.

Whatever LeMerle's goal, Mere Isabelle and the nuns are putty in the hands of the master, who has devised a grand revenge on them all. Because Guy has kidnapped Fleur to ensure her silence, Juliette balances her appeasement of the false priest with clandestine attempts to uncover and derail his terrible plans, a contretemps between the seducer and the seduced, Juliette conflicted by a mixed feelings for her former lover. For all her cleverness, Juliette is no match for his inherent dishonesty, but he underestimates the strength of her commitment to recovering Fleur, thereby denying him a last triumph. In a grand finale that exposes the desperate fervor of religious hysterics with a lifelong quest for recognition, a battle is waged between God and the Devil, the abbey ablaze with the reckoning of good and evil. Luan Gaines/2007.

I enjoy reading Joanne Harris because her themes center upon the relationship between a gifted but misfit woman and a man with a certain je ne sais quoi mixed with an edge of danger. I also admire her books because, while they could be written according to a single formula, as so many authors so tiresomely do, hers are all remarkably different. Holy Fools is darker than some of Harris' earlier work, and her treatment of the psychology of group dynamics here is intriguing and realistic. I can often guess the outcome of books involving mysterious death, but there are so many holy fools in this story that it had me guessing to the end, brought about with the help of a miracle. Is it a genuine miracle? You must decide for yourself. I still haven't made up my mind.