Dreaming of France -- Peaches for Father Francis

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

I finished reading  Peaches for Father Francis by Joanne Harris. She's also the author of Chocolat, the book and movie set in a small town in France where a single mother and her daughter are judged by the people there.
In this new book, a sequel to Chocolat, the main character Vianne is living in Paris when she receives a letter from an old friend who has died. The letter tells her presciently that she is needed back in her old village. The priest there, who had disapproved of Vianne, is struggling with the new Muslim population who have moved to the village. The acceptance of Muslims in this very Catholic country is obviously an issue the whole country is dealing with as they argue about whether Muslim girls can wear headscarves in school. I hadn't considered that the reaction to this mandate might be that Muslim families simply keep their teenage girls home from school.
In addition to dealing with these cultural rifts, this book combines a lot of the things everyone loves about France, the meals and the time to enjoy life, family and friends.
 The story is told through the viewpoints of both Vianne and Father Francis.  There's lots of small town intrigue and a little magic through the chocolate that Vianne finally makes to get a handle on the problems in the town.
The book dragged a bit, until about two-thirds in and then I stayed up much later than my bedtime because I just had to finish it.
It's worth a leisurely read to enjoy the atmosphere and the relationships.
Here's a photo that looks like a typical French village where Peaches for Father Francis was set.  Everytime we drive some place like this, I wonder how the cars will fit up the narrow road, especially when people are walking along.

 

  

First Paragraph, Tuesday Teaser -- Peaches for Frather Francis

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
This week, I'm reading Peaches for Father Francis by Joanne Harris. Many of you remember her from the book and movie Chocolat. This book is about the same characters and is getting good reviews from lots of my blogging friends. So far I'm loving it.
Here's the intro:

Someone once told me that, in France alone, a quarter of a million letters are delivered every year to the dead. What she didn't tell is that sometimes the dead write back.

And that is the entire first chapter.

Also this week is Teaser Tuesdays.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Open to a random page of your current read and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Here's mine from page 84:

The cards are bad. I should put them away, I know. What am I doing here, anyhow? I almost wish I had never opened Armande's letter; that Roux had never delivered it; that he had thrown it into the Seine.

What do you think?