Joanne Harris: Holy Fools
Margaret and I have both read this yarn in the last few days.
It is set in the early years of the seventeenth century - say Shakespeare's old age. It concerns a convent in France, where the rules have been relaxed for years and a new abbess is sent in to straighten things up.
Two of the key characters are one of the nuns, a former travelling entertainer, and the abbess's chaplain, sent with her to bolster her authority.
You might get a little impatient with all the details of the religious routine, as we did, but the story has so many twists it keeps you interested in just what will happen next.
The tale is told sometimes from the nun's point of view and sometimes from the chaplain's, and this can be a bit confusing at times.
Through the story Harris compares the world of the Church with that of entertainment, and even with that of Parisian high society - an interesting comparison.
We don't specially recommend it; we think Chocolat was better!
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