The Girl With No Shadow By Joanne Harris464 pages
Published April 2008 Harper Collins Publishing
This is the sequel to Harris' Chocolat which was made into a movie starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche. It picks up the tale of Vianne and Anouk Rocherseveral years after they have moved on from the village of Lansquenet. They are now settled in to Paris, along with Rosette, the daughter Vianne was pregnant with at the end of Chocolat. Because of some previous misfortune, Vianne has given up on the magic she had previously used so effectively. Through a series of events, Vianne has opened a chocolaterie and is involved with the landlord of the shop's building. Business is not good, however, until Zozie comes into their lives. Zozie adds a brightness to their lives and soon has Anouk deeply under her influence. A delightful cast of characters begins to frequent the shop. But Zozie is not what she seems to be. Roux, the father of Rosette, makes an appearance again in this book.
Harris is brilliant at interweaving story lines and creating unique and charming periphery characters. The reader begins to get to the truth of Zozie long before it is revealed to Vianne and Harris builds the tension as Zozie begins to wreak havoc and Vianne realizes that hiding is no longer possible. The story is told from the perspective of Anouk, Vianne, and Zozie, a tool that really helped move the story along. I felt that Harris had made some minor changes from the original story to appease readers that may have only seen the movie and not read Chocolat. I also felt that Vianne's current beau was something of a stereotype. Overall, I found the book well-written and a satisfying read.
Yep, I just made my first random pick list, I will do a posting about it after I finish writing this comment. I have some many books that that are in my shelf and I have not read them, because I don't know from where to start. So now I have great change to use the ramdom picking thingy and I know what to read next. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the movie Chocolat and have the book, but haven't read it yet. I'll have to move it up on my list so I can get to the sequel!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea there was a sequel. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI have a gift for you on my site :)
ReplyDeleteI thought this book was great. Loved the first one. Loved the style of the three narrators in this one. enjoyed it immensely, and it never hurts when a book is set in Paris.
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