Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris

This book is one of Mom’s favorites and I am always curious to read books that are important to people I am close to. It is about an elderly woman who returns to the small French town she grew up in. The story alternates between two time periods. Part of the book takes place in her childhood, particularly focusing on German occupation during WWII. The balance of the narrative takes place in the present, where she returns to this town and lives under an assumed name for reasons revealed through the book.

The book got off to a slow start, probably 60 pages or so of background and stage-setting. However, the rest of the book was very exciting to read; there were mysteries from her childhood that slowly unraveled, and a crisis (and love story) in the present that were quite captivating. Through a family
cookbook that doubled as a journal, the main character (and the reader) learns about secrets her mother had when she was growing up. Other members of the main character’s family are after ownership of the cookbook which they want for selfish reasons.

I thought the writing in some places was a little overwrought…the author relied on foods and cooking to provide a lot of the character development but this was sometimes contrived. That said, the writing in other places was beautiful – really evoking a time and place. The main character was harsh but likable, and her mother was just harsh but an equally well-developed character. Everyone else comprised a predictable cast.

One of the aspects of reading this book that I enjoyed the most was that, like Guernsey Potato Peel Pie, it was a view of what happened during WWII in occupied European countries. Like Guernsey, it detailed the complexities of relationships between the occupiers and the occupied.

I enjoyed the mysteries in this book and the complexities in plot and character development.