WIGZ Book Club
Contents
Book choice for July 2010
Sleep, Pale Sister by Joanne Harris
ISBN-10: 0552771783
ISBN-13: 978-0552771788
Synopsis
Henry Chester, a domineering and puritanical Victorian artist, is in search of the perfect model. In nine-year-old Effie he finds her. Ten years later, lovely, childlike and sedated, Effie seems the ideal wife. But something inside her is about to awaken. Drawn by her lover, Mose, into a dangerous underworld of intrigue and blackmail, she meets Fanny Miller, the brothel-keeper, and her shadowy daughter, Marta - murdered ten years ago on the day of Henry's weekly visit...And as friendship becomes possession and Henry's secret past is revealed, Effie and Marta plan their revenge together.
About the Author
Joanne Harris was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English
father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine’s College,
Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published
three novels; The Evil Seed (1989), Sleep, Pale Sister (1993) and Chocolat
(1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche
and Johnny Depp.
Since then, she has written eight more novels; Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of
the Orange, Coastliners, Holy Fools, Gentlemen and Players, The Lollipop Shoes
and Runemarks, and most recently blueeyedboy which was published in March 2010,
plus; Jigs & Reels, a collection of short stories and, with cookery writer Fran
Warde, two cookbooks; The French Kitchen and The French Market. Her books are
now published in over 40 countries and have won a number of British and
international awards. In 2004, Joanne was one of the judges of the Whitbread
prize (categories; first novel and overall winner); and in 2005 she was a judge
of the Orange prize.
