A fishy follow-up

After Chocolat, Joanne Harris served up something a bit fishy. Coastliners is a feuding islanders saga set in one of those corners of France where eccentric locals and hunky strangers are always on the menu.

The girl to gorge herself on both is Mado, a Parisienne vexed at having to return home to look after Dad. As well she might be - GrosJean is a nasty suicidal hermit who hasn't uttered more than "a long, torn, moaning noise" in years.

Just what is he hiding? Could it have anything to do with his dead brother, his long-lost son and the handsome newcomer Mado's taken a shine to?

It's all quite deathly. The sea has "a weedy, fishy smell". The climax revolves around someone getting stung by a jellyfish. Harris knocked out the screenplay in nine days after finishing the novel. You have been warned.