Oh, Mother

This one starts with a confession—this was the first book I didn’t finish reading before book club began.  That being said, it wasn’t because I didn’t love the book, which I absolutely did, but because of some family business taking a large slice of my time.  I wouldn’t recommend doing a book club when you haven’t read the book because, as I found at this one, I learned the answers to the mysteries without being able to solve them, or at least try, for myself.

I was hooked on this book right away, but something was pecking at my brain like a rabid chicken, bothering me so much I couldn’t focus on the drama anymore.  The voice of the story was Framboise.  As American and uncultured as I am, I had no idea how to say that name.  Did it rhyme with Fram-toys?  Was it Boise like the capital of Idaho? This was driving me to insanity!  Finally, I went online to determine how to pronounce a French name.  Turns out, it was pronounced like Fram-bwah, just like the raspberry liqueur.  OK, mystery solved…moving on.  But then at book club, someone said they saw a reference in the book stating it really was Fram-capital of Idaho.  Confusion again, but whatevs.  I’ll continue to pretend I’m Frenchy legit and think it’s Fram-bwah.

This book had it all…Nazi invaders; family secrets; love, hate and betrayal; manipulation and misunderstandings; childish cruelty; provincial legends and superstition.  But the one thing that captured my interest the most was the mother.  Oddly enough, I felt not only shock and disgust at the way she treated her children, but also a twinge of protectiveness towards her.  These days, it’s more en vogue to express every emotion that darts across your gray matter, but I’ve always been, much like my own mother, more of the ‘hold it in’ mentality.  While I express happy and loving emotion without reservation, it’s the negative emotion that I try to contain.  The mother in the book took the ‘hold it in’ mentality to the extreme and in the opposite way that I do.  She couldn’t express any softness at all.  That’s not to say that she didn’t have any softness, as there were several cracks in her armor when her tenderness showed fluorescent, but because she had built up such a record of abuse, the children weren’t able to trust that the kindhearted moments were real.  I feel like the mother had a deep wealth of love for her kids, but from her own private demons, possibly a childhood trauma or mental illness, she was locked into a pattern of behavior impossible for her to break free from.   When it all comes down to it, though, it doesn’t matter what you’ve been through, don’t take it out on your kids!!!  Tell them you love them every day, no matter what!  OK, I’m done with the soapbox, but it just needed to be said. 

All in all, Joanne Harris wrote not only a great novel, but a great book club pick.  I would highly recommend it at your next meeting...you'll have much to discuss and even more to mull over on your own.

Crystal

Food for thought on "Five Quarters of the Orange"

Pithy: 1) brief, forceful, and meaningful in expression; full of vigor, substance, or meaning; terse; forcible: a pithy observation 2) of, like, or abounding in pith. Pith: the soft fibrous tissue lining the inside of the rind in fruits such as the orange and grapefruit This was a most fitting description because it is truly how I would describe this book. It was both forceful and full of substance. I thought the main character, Framboise, and her mother, Mirabelle, were wonderfully penned. They are so alike in their intensity and emotional confinement. In a way they were each others nemesis. They both needed understanding and compassion; they both felt alone. I felt Mirabelle in particular was beautifully written. Seen through young Framboise's eyes you loathed her. She was harsh, demanding and unlovable. You think "There is no excuse, a mother should never treat her children that way!" And then you see the other side. Bit by bit, Joanne Harris ( the author) picks away the shell and you start to feel pity for a sad, suffering and troubled woman. One of my favorite quotes: "This sweetness like some bright fruit plum peach apricot watermelon perhaps from myself this sweetness It is a whimsical touch, which surprises and troubles me. That this stony and prosaic woman should in her secret moments harbor such thoughts. For she was sealed off from us-from everyone-with such fierceness that I had thought her incapable of yielding" Page 5 I thought it was so ironic that Framboise became what she loathed, her mother.

Elisabeth Dissects 'Five Quarters of the Orange'

On page 7 of 'Five Quarters of the Orange' the main character, Framboise Dartigen, tells us 'I know what you're thinking. You wish I'd get on with the story . . . ' and by golly she was RIGHT. I had JUST been thinking that - the first seven pages had moved slowly for me you see, and I was growing restless. Joanne Harris, author of said book, evidently has a sharp eye for what her readers are going through at any given point. In light of her honesty I decided to settle down and see what lay ahead.

I was glad I did. The book unwinds entirely from the perspective of Framboise, both current day (when she's in her 60's) and during World War II when she's 9. Framboise gives us a taste of her childhood, growing up in a small town in France during the German occupation, raised with her older brother and sister by a single mother. We also follow her through modern day while she's refurbishing and breathing new life into her abandoned childhood home, trying to keep her identity a secret from the town's current residents. It's the tantalizing secret behind Framboise's desire for anonymity and the unveiling of her mother's troubled personality through the diary she left behind, that kept me turning the pages.

Harris also does an excellent job describing aspects of Framboise's surroundings and cooking, so much so that you can almost taste and smell her culinary creations or feel the heat of a dry summer.

This is a book to be savored, take time to enjoy the world Harris creates while on your way to discovering answers to the book's mysteries.

SPOILER ALERT!

'Five Quarters of the Orange' has a satisfying, I would even say romantic ending - which as I may have mentioned previously, is something I'm pretty partial to (at least the satisfying part). Not that it doesn't have its elements of tragedy and sadness, but in the end very well wrapped up. Also noteworthy, a pretty clean read. On my official 'Clean-o-Meter', with 1 = to 'so clean you could refer it to respected aged relatives without worry' and 10 = to 'read at your OWN risk - and you didn't hear about it from me', I'd give it a 3. One or two usages of adult language, and some adult subject matter, which is more alluded to rather than detailed in grisly language.

SPOILER DONE.

A last word of advice - if you choose this read for your book club, do try and follow Caisse's excellent example and include a lovely large bar of Lindt's 'dark chocolate orange intense' as one of your book-inspired-favors for your fellow readers, they will think of you with kind, complimentary thoughts for weeks after.

Five Quarters of the Orange

A story of what could happen when there's.....selfish inclinations.....desire for attention....opportunity......

Joanne Harris wrote 'Five Quarters' from the perspective of Framboise at the age of 9 and 64. The young Framboise was clever and found a way to induce her mother's migraines. I didn't judge her for this- if she were my mother I might have too. Framboise described her as awakening with a mouth full of barbed wire and not a kind thought in her head. But Framboise was no cherub, in fact, her and her 2 siblings were little heathens who snitched on their neighbors to get lipstick, oranges, chewing gum, bars of chocolate and other unimportant things.

I don't want to give too much away about this book because unlike other books I actually hope you read this one. I will admit it starts off a bit slow but stick with it! Once I got into it I really wanted to know how it all played out. If you continue to follow our blog you'll learn I love to read but don't have a lot of time and so I struggle to finish some of the books. This was a quick read which was a BIG plus.

Joanne gives enough information about the characters so you can start to understand them, and in some ways relate, but doesn't overload you with details. You may be left with questions at the end, but as it was brought out in our book club discussion, it was from a 9 year olds point of view.

Lines I love:

"...in that moment I loved him completely and with a suddenness which startled away my rage."

"Hope scratched a thin silver trail across my heart."

"The feeling you get when a recipe turns out perfectly right...It's the feeling which tells me that any woman can be beautiful in the eyes of a man who loves her."

"Laure's eyes shot me with hate-shrapnel". (A phrase I'd like to use.)