Peaches for Monsieur le Curé
| Author | Joanne Harris |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel, literary fiction, |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
|
Publication date
|
April 2012 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | Chocolat, The Lollipop Shoes' |
Peaches For Monsieur le Curé is a 2012 novel by the author Joanne Harris—retitled Peaches for Father Francis in the U.S.—and is the third in the series of books featuring Vianne Rocher. The first being Chocolat and the second The Lollipop Shoes. Set in France in 2010, at the beginning of Ramadan, it is the tale of two communities, culturally different, but in many ways alike, and the woman who brings them together.[1]
Continuing from The Lollipop Shoes, Vianne Rocher, Roux, Anouk and Rosette are living on a houseboat on the River Seine. Anouk is now fifteen and Rosette is eight. Vianne believes that she may have found peace. Then she receives a letter from Lansquenet-sous-Tannes from Armande Voizin. Armande died eight years ago and had left the letter with her will, to be opened by her grandson, Luc. In it, she predicts that Lansquenet will some day need Vianne again, and asks Vianne to visit, if only to put flowers on an old lady's grave. Vianne is intrigued and, seeking an excuse to escape the heat of the Paris summer, takes her daughters to Lansquenet.
Vianne finds the village changed in a number of unsettling ways. The principal change is that a community of North African Muslims has settled across the river, and have built a mosque, complete with minaret, to rival the church of St-Jerome. The priest of Lansquenet, Francis Reynaud, Vianne's adversary in Chocolat, has had some trouble with these Moroccans, and has recently been accused of setting fire to the small Muslim girls' school which replaced Vianne's chocolaterie. Reynaud denies all knowledge of the fire, but "the court of public opinion" has already found him guilty.
The school was run by a Muslim woman called Inès, who wears the full niqab face-veil, and who is viewed with suspicion from both sides of the river. The Moroccan community is filled with gossip about her; the French locals are suspicious of her because of the veil she wears, blaming her for the increasing numbers of women now wearing the niqab. Vianne is drawn to Inès, partly because she was living in Vianne's chocolate shop before it burnt down, and partly because Inès reminds her of aspects of herself. Both are single women with a young daughter; both are the subject of gossip and speculation. But, unlike Vianne, Inès does not seem to want to mix or be accepted into the community. She remains silent and aloof, impervious to kindness or offers of help. Even Vianne's chocolates have no power over her, as she and the rest of the Moroccan community are fasting for Ramadan.
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