![]() Harris's French novels are rural, celebratory, affectionate, often with a fairy-tale element. ![]() You wouldn't, after all, lambast a film like Jour de Fête for not being La Haine. She knows about the France of nuclear plants and McDonald's franchises but, as she says, "That's the great thing about being a writer - you can choose and pick what you want." I don't do unbiased," says Harris crisply. It has led to accusations of a cosily sentimental vision: "Some people have been terribly offended that I have dared to write about certain aspects of France while missing others out, as if I had a responsibility somehow to show a clear and unbiased vista. ![]() "To me the whole business of writing a story is to open up a doorway to somewhere I want to be." "I wouldn't be able to set a story in a place I disliked", she says. ![]() Hers is an emotional rather than realistic portrayal: France filtered through memories of happy childhood summers spent with her Breton family off the Vendée coast. She is translated into over 30 languages and is massively popular in Italy, Spain and Croatia. Since Chocolat was unwrapped in 1999, Harris's sales have been formidable - more than four million books in the UK alone. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |