The Strawberry Thief, La Ladra di Fragole by Joanne Harris

The Strawberry Thief,

La Ladra di Fragole by Joanne Harris is her latest book sets in Lansquenet. We meet again the several, beloved protagonists of the sfirst chapter, Chocolat, Monsieur Le Cure, Vianne Rocher, Anoux, the new daughter Rosette, and then Narcisse, Roux, Josephine. Another complicated story filtered with the sensibility typical of Joanne Harris.

The real protagonist of this book is the wind: impetuous, real, wild, calm, soft...The wind in grade of giving back peace: the wind that brings bad novelties: the wind as signal of important changes in the existence of the several characteristics, the wind and the Incidents, the wind as the signal that it is arrived the moment of leaving a place.

The death of Narcisse and a testament, with a confession written for Monsieur Curé will be the heart of the story.

Rosette is the special kid of Joanne: she is her Winter-Daughter, the one who, being special, will always have special exigencies and won't never leave her. 

Anouk is in Paris, differently, and lives with her boyfriend. 

Vianne, sad, would have preferred to see Anoux close to her, understanding at the same time the exigencies of the daughter: after all, her same exigencies, and the same one of her mother. 

Sometimes Vianne is still called by the wind who brought her once at Lansquenet: a wind whispering of moving on: but Vianne understands that roots are important and in Lansquenet she has found the best existence: plus, Rosette was born from her union with Roux, a gypsy, someone who doesn't want chains, constrictions: without a real name or last name, an identity. 

Fresh and wild like only the wind can be.

When the children of Narcisse discover that the old man has left to Rosette one of his most beloved fields where the girl enjoyed to go often for eating strawberries, they are furious. They would want to read the confession of Narcisse, thinking that maybe that words will bring them to a mysterious treasure that the man wants to donate to Rosette.

The story is more complicated. I can't tell you anything else.

At the same time, the little community of Lansquenet, in pain for the departure of Narcisse discovers that the store of flowers owned by Narcisse has been rent: but this time the owner is  an ageless lady, a tattoist called Morgane. A normal activity but weird in a town like Lansquenet: Vianne understands that that woman for several reasons is not "normal" but too similar to her for not being diffident. Morgane anyway is not a bad character at all: she will be much more helpful than Vianne with Rosette and Anoux, as you'll see, healing the first one and letting her discover her work, being optimistic and helpful for the future of the second one...

In the story there are inserted also the demons and secrets of Monsieur the Cure, Francis Reynaud.

Less intransigent than the past version we knew from Chocolat, he is capable now of eating also some trasgressive food and beverages during the period of Lent. In his heart there is a terrible secret, and the written pages by Narcisse reassures the poor priest that maybe Narcisse knew what he had done in the past. 

What to add? Superlative. I really enjoyed reading this new chapter of the stories and adventures of Vianne&Co. Waiting for a new one I hope, and another full-immersion in Lansquenet.

Anna Maria Polidori