I'm a sucker for all of her books. This one tells the tale of a french girl returning to the tiny island where she grew up after a ten year absence. Things have changed for the worse in her absence and no one seems to care.

on loan to a friend

returned by my friend who didn't finish it. She was put off by the fact that she didn't know how to pronounce all the french names and places so felt she couldn't relate to anyone. Personally in this situation I would just make something up, but I know this is a real concern for some people.

sending this to another BCer for a trade

bien arrivé. Merco ozone-nut. J'ai presque fini "l'île aux esclaves". Il ne va pas tarder à partir.

Unlike " Blackberry wine", I found this story depressing. Perhaps, it is because Joanne Harris has the ability to make you feel with her characters. As a Frenchwoman, it was a little weird to read English tinted with all those French names.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to grubsneerg

Merci beaucoup for the trade, Tamsine!

I liked this book very much, but found myself comparing it to the "Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," which I read recently. Both are chock full of quirky characters who are difficult to keep straight at first until they start to grow on you, both take place on islands off the coast of France, both made me long for an island existence--an island in good weather, that is.

If you would like to know the author's thoughts on her book, click here.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Passed this on to my mother to read and enjoy.

Got this back from Mom yesterday. She said she had trouble keeping all the people straight--who belonged to whom and which families were fighting and why--and she could hear her French teacher tsk-tsking in her head at her mangled pronunciation of the French names and places. I think she liked it, overall, once she got past her own guilt.

Road trip! I'm headed to Baltimore, Md., tomorrow and hope to leave this somewhere in the Inner Harbor.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left on a bench at the water's edge.

Congratulations--you caught a book!
Welcome to BookCrossing.com, where we are trying to make the whole world a library!

If you have not already done so, please make a journal entry so we know this book has found a new home. You don't need to join BookCrossing and you can remain completely anonymous. However, we encourage you to join so that you can follow this book's future travels. It's fun and free, and your personal information will never be shared or sold. If you decide to join, consider listing grubsneerg (or any other journaller of this book) as the member who referred you.

Take your time reading the book, and after you finish, please make another journal entry to record your thoughts about it. This book is now yours, and you can keep it if you choose, though we would love for you to share it. If you pass it along, please make a release note to let others know where you left it.

Whatever you decide to do, please leave the label intact, so the book has a chance to keep in touch with us. Thanks and enjoy!