| Blackberry Wine |  | Author: Joanne Harris
Creator: Alex Jennings
Publisher: Chivers Audio Books
Category: Book
Buy New: $94.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 3880760
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 10
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 7.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 0754055000
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780754055006
ASIN: 0754055000
Publication Date: June 2002
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Another wonderful story from Joanne Harris August 8, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
BLACKBERRY WINE by Joanne Harris
August 8, 2006
Amazon Rating: 4/5 stars
In this book by Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat), the story revolves around writer Jay Mackintosh, and his search for happiness. The story is told via two time lines. The first one dates back to the 1970's, where Jay's memories take the reader back to his summers spent in a place that was known as Pog Hill in England. Out of these memories came his groundbreaking novel, JACKAPPLE JOE, based on the man that eventually became a mentor to him. Joe and Jay had a very unusual relationship, as Joe was much older but wiser and told Jay of his travels around the world, teaching Jay all about plants and healing and the magical power of herbs.
The second time line takes us to the present, when Jay has decided on a whim to purchase a cottage in a village in France that he believes is where Joe used to live, leaving his long time girlfriend Kerry without much of a warning. His relationship with Kerry is one sided, and he feels claustrophobic. Kerry really has no idea what is going on in Jay's mind, but she has a need to fix him and wants him to write that sequel to that great novel he is now known for.
The 1970's time line is one of nostalgia but it also has a big influence on Jay's present life, where he is filled with regret for losing track of Joe, a man that he took for granted as a boy, but now realizes that Joe meant the world to him. However, Jay thinks he's losing his mind as Joe begins to appear to Jay once he moves into the old cottage in the French village, and Jay's relationship with Joe begins anew.
Throughout the story, a series of wine bottles known as THE SPECIALS are always in the background, giving a sense of magic and surrealism to the story, as is common in all Joanne Harris novels. The Specials react to Jay's actions, and act as harbingers to what may happen next.
Jay's life takes a turn when he moves to the cottage, as he gains a new motivation to write that second novel. He also becomes curious about his neighbor, a woman who is known to covet his land and whose daughter is known to the village as deaf and dumb. But Jay knows there has to be a story here, and after he's learned a lot about the other villagers who become sources of potential characters in his new novel, he can't get a grasp on the mysterious Marise.
As always, I enjoyed this novel by Joanne Harris very much. The book started out at a slow pace, as the story is set up, but once I got the rhythm of the time lines, the book moved faster. This is a good read for all fans of Joanne Harris and readers of good fiction.
 Loved this book! July 17, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I really loved this book. It has a truly magical quality to it, and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read her next book. Thank you to a great author and storyteller. It is a great book to take traveling especially for those long waits at the airport or train station. Time just flies by!
Blackberry Wine ... hits the lips better than Chocolat... October 31, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris... By far her best. (Yes, better then Chocolat!) I have read all... and I would love to see this story as a movie!!! The Main character, Jay, a writer finds himself completely at a loss when it comes to life; despising himself, his life, even his home. He starts to drink this "Special" wine, that was left to him from his old pal Joe... The wine makes him remember things from his childhood... And In remembering Joe, he goes back to his childhood haunts and settles down in the village... Where... you run into characters from Chocolat... but neither here nor there... this books is about trust, frienship, heart and finding Joy in life.
Oh... I just LOVE this book --Here's to hopes she continues to keep these characters... alive.
A writer finds himself October 12, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Jay Mackintosh had spent some teenage summers hanging around Joe Cox (aka, Jackapple Joe) at Pog Hill, a decaying mining town. He wrote a successful novel based on that experience, but then declined into writing potboilers under a pen name. Now he is rediscovering himself. Some bottles of Joe's homemade wine, salvaged from Pog Hill, seem to have mysterious properties, and lead Jay into the impulse buying of a French chateau in Lansquenet, where he joins into the smalltown atmosphere and begins to write a new novel.
The story alternates between memories of Pog Hill, the small town he lost (converted into upscale housing developments) and Lansquenet, the small town he has found and wants to keep. All is not as it seems in Lansquenet, especially with his neighbor, and forces are at work to make the town into another tourist destination. Jay finds himself caught up in events, and drinking Joe's wine (his "specials") seems to bring back Joe, and redirects Jay's life.
There is something about the specials, and unexpected value in Joe's seed collection. There is more than one way to revive a town that is in decline. And the blackberry wine, well, that is the last bottle, and you have to read the novel to get there.
 Don't bother September 9, 2005
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I did not feel this book at all. It falls so flat--everything might as well be a cardboard cut-out--that it's hilarious the main character is a celebrated writer. The structure of the story should work: a man living off his waning fame as the author of a celebrated novel leaves his prominence, and his leeching girlfriend, for a small village in France, hoping to recapture his inspiration and find some answers about his past.
Harris fails to deliver in all respects. The novel reads like a first draft, and I wish she'd realized her mistake and threw the manuscript in the fireplace. In light of character Jay's decision at the end and how it must reflect on Harris, you wonder why she even bothered in the first place. With Jay, Harris barely manages to creat a character more talented and wise than she is.
Absolutely terrible. Extra star for sustained effort.
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