Joan Harris writes novels in the style of magical realism. In them, she talks about the ordinary life of a person whose fate a miracle suddenly enters, and he needs to make a choice - recognize the fact that magic exists, or pretend that nothing happened, and live on in his everyday world. The heroes of the writer, without hesitation, choose the opportunity to touch magic. This is what the Blackberry Wine novel is about, the reviews of which were enthusiastic.
Joan Harris Biography
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 kind of duality. Joan lives with his family in England, but at the same time pulls her to her mother’s homeland. The same craving is characteristic of its heroes. This happens, for example, with the main character of Harris’s novel Blackberry Wine.
After graduating from school for girls, Joan continued to study at a college in Cambridge, where she studied medieval and modern languages.
Before starting a career as a writer, Harris changed several professions - she taught French literature at the university, worked as a teacher at a boys' school for 15 years, and even was a salesman for some time.
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 mother showed her a shelf with books of French poets of the XIX 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 famous mystical novels tries to prove to his mother that she was wrong. But her mother still continues to think that the writer is not a profession, and her daughter consoles, saying that she will always be taken back to the teachers.
Unsuccessful debut
The first book, written by Joan Harris, was not successful. It was the novel Heavenly Friend, published in 1989. It was about the immortal Rosemary and her vampire friends. Despite the fashionable theme of vampirism, the book did not impress readers. The same fate awaited the next novel - Sleep, Pale Sister, written in the Gothic style.
Long-awaited success
And only the third book, “Chocolate”, created in the style of a mystical melodrama, was a stunning success and brought the author wide fame. Perhaps, to surpass the popularity of the story of the fate of a young woman with a child who boldly violated the usual gray everyday life of a small town, only the next novel, “Blackberry Wine” by Joan Harris, could. An interesting fact - the first three books were written back in the years of work at a school for boys 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": a summary of the novel
For Joan Harris, France is a place where the heroes of her works constantly strive and where the action most often unfolds. Undoubtedly, the decisive role in this is played by the fact that the writer’s mother is French. France will be present in the novel Blackberry Wine. The summary of the book cannot, of course, convey its entire amazing, magical atmosphere.
What is she talking about? This is the story of writer Jay Mackintosh, who wrote a wonderful book many years ago, so good that he received a prestigious award for it. Readers and publishers have long been waiting for new bestsellers from him, but this did not happen. The Mac was no longer able to write anything even remotely resembling his famous book. He retrained into a small science fiction writer. This work brought a small income, and Jay could continue to indulge in his favorite pastime - wines. No, he was not a drunkard, but in a small basement there was always a small supply of alcohol.
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 garden and a garden on an abandoned site near the old railway station. Young Jay, who arrived with his mother after his parents divorced in a new city, found in his person not only a real friend, but also a teacher.
“Blackberry Wine” tells us that it’s never too late to change and start life from scratch. This happened with the hero of the novel. After tasting a drink made many years ago by an old friend, Jay felt a craving for change. He came across a message about the sale of a large house with a plot and a garden somewhere in France. The Macintosh was struck by the resemblance of the structure to the shelter of his friend. And he makes an unexpected decision for himself - he buys this house and moves to live in it. At a new place in the life of Jay Mackintosh is magic.
An interesting detail: the story in the book “Blackberry Wine” is conducted on behalf of the Fleury bottle.
Readers' Opinion
The novel “Blackberry Wine”, the 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 the first two Harris books looked like angular, clumsy and a little funny teenagers, then Chocolate and Blackberry Wine can be compared to a young woman who has not yet reached the full bloom of her beauty, but realizing what she is capable of. And she knows what she wants from life.
Readers note that Blackberry Wine, like other novels, has a special atmosphere of tastes and smells. If in the previous work it was an alluring aroma of chocolate, then here the taste of wine comes first. Moreover, the main character, he seems terrible, but attractive. Yet the rest find it unusual and enjoyable. And the thing is that it gives anyone who has tried it the opportunity for a few minutes to remember the most important moments of their childhood or youth. This is the magic of wine in the novel by Joan Harris.
She knows how to present magic as an everyday occurrence. When a longtime acquaintance appears in front of Mackintosh who taught him gardening, Jay at first cannot understand - a ghost in front of him or jokes of his imagination. But he doesn’t even think about how amazing this situation is, because he’s glad to see his teacher and he doesn’t care what kind of person he appears before him.
What else do readers like in the novel are descriptions of French nature and its wonderful little villages, where life is leisurely, people are friendly, and morals are patriarchal.
Screen adaptation of books by Joan Harris
So far, only one work of the writer has been awarded 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 of the master of mystical realism
The writer works very fruitfully. She manages to produce a novel, or even two a year, makes working trips to different cities and countries and does not forget about her hobbies with music and the Old Icelandic language.
In June 2010, Joan Harris first visited Russia. She was stunned by the success that she had among fans here. She liked Moscow so much that instead of a regular working trip, she decided to arrange a whole tour: she visited museums and bookstores, sat in a cafe and rode the streets of the city.
In 2011, the book "Runic Light" 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 begun in Chocolate, and the storybook Cat, Hat and a Piece of Rope.
In 2014, the fantastic novel The Gospel of Loki, a story about the Norse gods, was released. The main character is his cunning Locky. Unfortunately, the book has not yet been translated into Russian.
The writer's family and her non-standard hobbies
The life of a writer cannot be called boring. When she has some free time, she rests playing the bass in the group she joined at the age of 16.
The novel Blackberry Wine by Joan Harris is somewhat autobiographical. Between his main character and the author a lot in common. Mackintosh received the Goncourt Prize, and Harris has been on the jury of such writing competitions more than once. His hobbies are wine and agriculture, which give him peace. For the writer, the outlet is a guitar playing and learning the Old Icelandic language.
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 drummer of the group, for the sake of him she learned to play the guitar, became a member of this group, and then married him.
Joan Harris lives in England with her husband and daughter.