I think I enjoy the way Joanne Harris seems to see the world more than her writing style. That said this is the 3rd book by her I have read and enjoyed. I really thought that I knew what was going to happen, that the ending was going to be predictably anti-cliche. I was wrong, and it wasn't quite predictably predictable either. Love not often but forever. Intelligent intuition in ways of heart and human nature. Heart pounding plot...except you have to be paying attention...her writing style can be subtle and if you are not fully paying attention the intensity of the plot doesn't grab you. ( )

Wish I had a cantrip to make this one disappear. ( )

Absorbing, but somewhat dark and some of the Catholicism-related details seemed a little off. But both Juliett and LaMerle seemed so real it was worth it - and both of them sounded like they could have made an excellent duet singing "I Hate Myself for Loving You." ( )

Absorbing, but somewhat dark and some of the Catholicism-related details seemed a little off. But both Juliett and LaMerle seemed so real it was worth it - and both of them sounded like they could have made an excellent duet singing "I Hate Myself for Loving You." ( )

Soeur Auguste, once known for her stage name of "l'Ailée" (The Winged One) has found sanctuary at the Abbey of Sainte Marie-de-la-mer since 1605 when she arrived there pregnant and made a home for herself and daughter. The Reverend Mother was a kind and lax woman, and many of the sisters were not of a religious disposition, much like Soeur Auguste herself, which allowed her a comfortable position there, tending the herb garden and making healing potions for the sisters which she has learned how to make since her gipsy childhood and from her friendship with an old Jewish sage and alchemist.

But now it is five years later, and in 1610 many changes are about, and Soeur Auguste keeps a journal of the daily changes going on at the Abbey. The Reverend Mother at the age of 73—a very elderly woman in the 17th century—has suddenly perished, and soon arrives a twelve-year-old child, the niece to a powerful Bishop, to replace her. At first none of the sisters are willing to believe this child will be their leader, but she quickly makes her position clear: she is intent on bringing many reforms and bringing order and strict religion back to the Abbey. This child, the Abbess Isabelle, is not alone either, accompanying her is her personal confessor and spiritual guide, one ostensibly called Père Colombin. But Soeur Auguste, once called Juliette, knows him by quite another name. She knows him as Guy LeMerle, for he was once her lover, ten years her senior and the leader of a troupe of actors and performers, who abandoned her and the whole troupe in a town in the midst of a great commotion when they were accused of brining the plague to save his own skin. That was the last time she had seen him. Now he is at the Abbey for what can only be a dangerous scheme that only Soeur Auguste can uncover to save herself and her daughter... and the sisters.

As I am a fan of Joanne Harris and have previously enjoyed historical fiction set in the middle ages and in convents and abbeys, too, I was pretty much grabbed by this story from the first. There was enough scandal and drama throughout to keep things going at a good clip, but I must say I was disappointed by the ending, which came down to a choice Juliette had to make and which I cannot reveal for obvious reasons. I'm not sure why Harris made that choice as a writer. Possible spoiler: Perhaps to give her Juliette a depth of character that transcends mere logic and feminist agendas. That's enough for me to make my peace with it. ( )