As the self-christened Père Columbin weaves his spell over his audience of frustrated and neglected women, he lights a spark in virtually every one of them. But she’s also captivated by her confessor – and she’s not the only one. In any circumstances, she’d have been unable to control the delicate balance of grudges, rivalries and egos which make up the world of her new realm. For a start, Mère Isabelle is a mere child, only twelve years old, the scion of an ambitious family and already cursed with remarkable pride. The convent’s new Abbess couldn’t be more different from her practical and generous predecessor. The ramifications of the regency, and its political instability, are felt even as far away as Noirs Moustiers and this simmering sense of alarm forms the context for the smaller-scale story of power, exploitation and credulity within the convent walls. Holy Fools takes place at the very dawn of the 17th century, most of its action unfolding in the year 1610, against the backdrop of Henri IV’s assassination and the accession of his boy-heir Louis XIII. From what I do recall, there are common themes with Holy Fools: for example, the suspicion caused by new arrivals in closed communities hints of benign herbal magic and the links between mothers and daughters, women and men. Until The Gospel of Loki, I’d only read one book by Harris – the ubiquitous Chocolat – and that was long enough ago that I don’t remember it well.

Against her will, she finds herself being drawn back into a dangerous game she thought she’d escaped long ago… for her dark nemesis is a gambler and this time he is prepared to play with sanity, faith and even lives at stake. When the old Abbess dies, her replacement arrives with a confessor in tow: a glamorous, silver-tongued, charismatic man who Juliette knows, only too well. But others do, and Fate – or God – works in mysterious ways. None of her sisters knows her true identity. Within the abbey walls, she has reinvented herself as Soeur Auguste, a young widow who has sought sanctuary with her little girl Fleur. For five years, Juliette has lived in peaceful isolation at the convent of Sainte Marie-de-la-Mer, on the island of Noirs Moustiers (modern Noirmoutier) in eastern France.

Holy Fools by Joanne Harris