Like so many others I was captivated when Chocolat by Joanne Harris came out in 1999. It is a book of the senses, with descriptions of taste, smell, weather and atmosphere that transport you right into the story. Reading Joanne Harris is such an easy pleasure that I’ve read everything she’s written since. It is perfect for escaping into sultry summer heat in a rainy and cool British summer. But it was a particular pleasure to settle comfortably into the third in the series that began with Chocolat, and to return to a family of familiar characters in a village that’s so vivid that I feel like I’ve visited on holiday.

Peaches for Monsieur le Cure sees us return to the small French village of Lansquenet eight years after Vianne Rocher and her family have moved on to Paris (their story there is the subject of The Lollipop Shoes). Vianne returns after a letter from a long since dead friend summons her back. She finds that, as before, village life is full of intrigue and battles between outsiders and long-standing residents. But former enemies have become friends and some unusual alliances emerge in an attempt to discover what is at the root of trouble in the village.

Yes its theme of religious tensions and the triumph of diversity comes across as somewhat naive, but if, God forbid, it starts to rain again, this is a great way to make a virtual escape to sunshine, peaches and chocolate.