Writer Jay Mackintosh reached his artistic zenith with Jackapple Joe, a novel he wrote 10 years ago, based on the time he spent as a boy with a crusty, enigmatic old man named Joseph Cox in the tiny English town of Kirby Monckton. Joe’s stories, simple wisdom and folk charms—and his uncanny ability to make anything grow—made their time together magical. 

          But old Joe disappeared one fall without a trace. Now, with his life going nowhere, Jay impulsively purchases a small cottage in the remote village of Lansquenet and relocates to the sleepy French countryside in an attempt to recapture the magic that vanished 20 years ago—and maybe even find "Jackapple Joe" again.

          Joanne Harris is the author of the novel Chocolat, which received widespread critical acclaim in the United States and abroad. She lives in England.