This is the story of a man named Jay and his relationship with a very special old man, Joe. The story alternates between 1999, when Jay is a struggling English author who moves to France on an impulse, and 1977, when Jay is a boy in England spending his summers with Joe.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first, perhaps due to the fact that the story is narrated by a bottle of wine. It seemed, though, that the author would forget this oddity for long stretches and then suddenly remember and insert an appropriate comment into the narrative.

After I got into the story though, it held my attention and I enjoyed it. Jay was a likable character and Joe was interesting (although at first I kept getting these two similar sounding names mixed up), but none of the other characters were developed much at all. The French town where Jay moved is the same town in which Chocolat took place and I felt as though I was expected to remember the major characters from that book as minor characters in this one.

The only other thing I didn't much care for with this book was the postscript. I felt it wrapped up the loose ends too neatly. Some loose ends don't need to be wrapped up. I would've been perfectly happy if these things had been left to my imagination rather than explained glibly in a page and half.

Overall, this was a cute story and an easy, relaxed read.

Also by Joanne Harris: Five Quarters of the Orange (Cath)