Five Quarters of the Orange
| Five Quarters of the Orange | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Joanne Harris |
| Cover artist | Stuart Haygarth |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | 2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 432 pp |
| ISBN | 0-552-99883-4 |
| OCLC Number | 48026119 |
| Preceded by | Blackberry Wine |
Five Quarters of the Orange is a novel by Joanne Harris first published by Doubleday in 2001.
Five Quarters of the Orange includes two time lines, alternating throughout the novel. The first time line begins in post-war France, following the life of the widowed Framboise Simons in her return to her childhood village from which her family was once expelled. There she must fight to conceal her identity, lest she be recognized as the daughter of the woman who once brought great tragedy upon the village. The second time line takes place in Framboise's childhood memories, during the German Occupation. In this time line, Framboise reveals her tentative relationship with her estranged mother and two siblings as well as her dangerous alliance with a young German officer. Five Quarters of the Orange deals with coming-of-age, the darkness of childhood, and most prominently, betrayal and the ripple effect it sets off.
As with her other works, Blackberry Wine and Chocolat, Joanne Harris places strong emphasis on the symbolic use of food and cooking throughout the novel. For Framboise's mother, food is symbolic of her love for her children, whereas others utilize food as a weapon, using it for bartering and blackmail. Food serves its purpose as a gateway to the past and is a significant key to tying the two time lines together.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Framboise Simons
[edit] Framboise Dartigen
[edit] Characters
[edit] Framboise
Out of the three siblings she is most like her mother in spirit which allows her to take command easily of their small group. She used her mother's sensitivity to oranges to evade her and go to town with Cassis and Reine-Claude.
[edit] Thomas Leibniz
He's the german officer that usually traded with the kids. He first spots Framboise in the market in Les Laveuses stealing an orange, but doesn't call her on it. Later he's intrigued by her character, and the kids trade information about the people in the village with him and other German Officers for small trinkets like magazines...
[edit] Paul Hourias
Initially a childhood friend of the Dartigen siblings he drifted away as he remained "on the outside" of their game. He resurfaces when Framboise returns to town, decades later, and helps her to deal and cope with Laure and Luc Dessanges' campaign to make her sell them her mother's story. He's deeply in love with her, as he admits, that he'd cared for her "perhaps the same that you did for Tomas".
[edit] Mirabelle Dartigen
Framboise, Cassis and Reine's mother, she suffered from irregualar moments when she fancied she smelt oranges, and would go to close herself in her room.
[edit] Cassis Dartigen
The oldest of the children, after his father's untimely death, Cassis was left the only man in the house which gave him a temporary advantage in leading the other two siblings. His naturally weak and cowardly nature asserted itself fast enough and his defeat was obvious when Framboise stared her mother down and took control.
[edit] Reine-Claude Dartigen
A weakly child and vain, but incredibly beautiful.
[edit] Laure Dessanges
Yannicks' wife who relieved the story of Mirabelle Dartigen to the Village of Les Leveuses
[edit] Yannick
Cassis' son
[edit] Reception
Five quarters of the orange received a score of 3.72 out of 5 on Goodreads based on 7293 ratings
[edit] External links
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