Peaches for Monsieur le Cure

By Joanne Harris
First published in Great Britain in 2012
by Doubleday a division of Transworld Publishers

Vianne Rocher returns to Lansquenet after receiving a letter from her old friend, Armande.  Her old DEAD friend, Armande.  Armande believes Vianne should return to Lansquenet as the people there need her.  As the wind blows, Vianne returns.

Upon her return, Vianne discovers Lansquenet is not as she had left it.  Gone are the days of the river gypsies and Vianne's chocolate shop.  There is friction between the Catholics and Muslims; a church bell competing with a call to prayer.  Vianne, always the peacemaker, tries to bring the community together with her magical chocolate and her good common sense. 

Harris explores the very contemporary topic of different religions trying to co-exist with respect and intelligence.  More difficult topics are handled sensitively; the situations never getting to the point where the reader can't take any more.  Quite possibly, Harris has many readers questioning their own beliefs or, at the very least, wondering why they can't be more open-minded towards others.

A wonderful book for those who have loved Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes.  An introduction to Harris' brilliance for those picking up one of her novels for the first time.

Stand By Me

By Sheila O'Flanagan
Published by Headline Review
an imprint of Headline Publishing Group
First published in 2010

Dominique Brady, named after St. Dominic and pronounced the same way, was brought up in an ultra-religious Catholic home in Ireland. Her brother, Gabriel, is being groomed for the priesthood and his parents couldn't be prouder. Dominique, however, has no time to waste on religion and gets on with being a teenager in the 1980s, eventually getting a job in a diner where she meets her future husband.

Dominique's life changes over the years and she becomes a wealthy socialite, raising money for charities, and throwing the best parties. But life is never an easy path and Domino, as she is now known, has serious choices to make along the way. Of course, that's where the title of the book comes into play: if you're married, do you always stand by each other? If you're a family, do you always stick up for each other? When is it necessary to stand by your friends?

O'Flanagan always writes an interesting story, often with complex layers and digging deep into marital and family life. As well, O'Flanagan's supporting characters are well written and some become as important as the main characters in how the reader feels about them and how their lives will turn out.

Stand By Me is a bit of a saga, covering Domino's life from her late teen years into her forties. It dissects love, depression, betrayal, and religion, yet doesn't become boring or preachy. O'Flanagan has turned out yet another book that provides the reader with a good storyline, some thought-provoking moments, and an overall enjoyable read.

The Bishop's Man

By Linden MacIntyre

Published by Random House Canada

2009

The Bishop's Man is a novel both engrossing and frustrating. The story is told through Father Duncan MacAskill and centres around his life as the priest who other priests hate to see coming; the priest sent by the bishop to make priests who are caught up in any kind of scandal - sexual or otherwise - disappear. That's the engrossing bit. The frustrating bit is the constant time-shifting MacIntyre employs in order to tell MacAskill's story. It's summer, it's winter, he's old, he's young, he's in Honduras, he's in Toronto, he's in Cape Breton. Enough already.

The book gets off to a slow start and if I hadn't been reading this for a book club, I probably would have stopped a few chapters in. But perseverance pays off. MacAskill's decline into alcoholism and mental despair was exceptionally well-written. In fact, MacIntyre's tone throughout made you feel the isolation of the parish, the sadness of those touched by sexual abuse, and the loneliness of a man who dreams of experiencing life outside the priesthood. MacIntyre stepped away from writing graphic scenes of sexual abuse, and he didn't need to - you hated the perpetrators and felt the pain of the victims anyway.

MacAskill performed his priestly duties for the bishop, but not without questioning the actions of the church and, eventually, himself. There are moments when you despise him, moments when you tolerate him, and moments when you wish he would stop being tormented and find peace.

I liked this book although it left me feeling quite hollow. Whether that was the intention of the author or not was one of the topics covered by the Bool Club (that's not a typo...long story).

Out of the four females involved in today's discussion, I was the only person who liked the book. Booler CB liked it well enough, but I don't think it topped her list of books to recommend to friends; Booler NS didn't like the book; and Booler PC couldn't find it in her heart to even finish it. So, there were some diverse opinions floating around. All agreed, however, on the overall bleakness of the story - setting a novel about sexual abuse, suicide, and religion against a backdrop of dead-of-winter Cape Breton was downright depressing.

The Bishop's Man won the 2009 Giller Prize. While the majority of the Bool Club wouldn't recommend this novel, I do.