In 1999 Joanne Harris made her name with her third novel, Chocolat. None of her books since then has had quite the same effect, particularly not the disappointing psychological thriller blueeyedboy. In Peaches for Monsieur le Curé Harris returns not only to the characters of Chocolat – these have already been revisited in The Lollipop Shoes – but also to the setting, Lansquenet, a village in the south of France. Perhaps she should never have gone away.

Eight years after leaving Lansquenet, Vianne receives a letter from her dead friend, Armande, asking her to go back. ‘Sooner or later, Lansquenet will need you again … so do me a final courtesy. Take a trip back to Lansquenet.’ Not knowing why she is going there, Vianne takes her