Five Quarters of the Orange

Five Quarters of the Orange is a novel by English author Joanne Harris, first published by Doubleday in 2001. It is set in France, in the small village of Les Laveuses on the river Loire, and alternates between two timelines: the childhood of its protagonist during the German Occupation of the Second World War, and her adult life in the present day.

The narrator is Framboise Dartigen, the youngest of three siblings, whose mother, Mirabelle, is still remembered and resented in the village for an incident that occurred when Framboise was nine. Widowed, Framboise returns to Les Laveuses under her married name, Françoise Simon, to restore the family's burnt-out farm, and opens a small restaurant where she cooks her mother's recipes. Her success draws the attention of her nephew Yannick and his wife Laure, who hope to profit from her newfound fame.

In the past, after the death of their father and under a stern mother who shows little affection, the Dartigen children fall under the spell of Tomas, a young German officer who rewards them with black-market goods in exchange for information about their neighbours. Framboise, the closest to him, feels responsible for what follows: Tomas's death, the Gestapo's reprisals and her mother's flight.

The novel shares with Harris's other works, such as Chocolat and Blackberry Wine, a focus on food as an emotional language and as a gateway to the past. Critical opinion was divided: some reviewers found the pacing slow and the plotting uneven, while others praised its layered structure and emotionally powerful ending. It was shortlisted for the 2002 WH Smith Literary Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize.