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Fiction. Literature. HTML: Since she was a little girl, the wind has dictated every move Vianne Rocher has made, buffeting her from the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a new identity, that of widow Yanne Charbonneau, she opens a chocolaterie on a small Montmartre street, determined to still the wind at last and keep her daughters, Anouk and baby Rosette, safe. Her new home above the chocolate shop offers calm and quiet; no red sachets by the door; no sparks of magic fill the air. Conformity brings with it anonymity�??and peace. There is even Thierry, the stolid businessman who wants to care for Yanne and the children. On the cusp of adolescence, an increasingly rebellious Anouk does not understand. But soon the weathervane turns . . . and into their lives blows the charming, enigmatic�??and devious�??Zozie de l'Alba. And everything begins to cha… (more)
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This is the continued story of Anouk and Vianne after they left the
Vianne, Anouk and Rosette end up working in a small cafe/chocolaterie in Paris, which is where they meet Zozie - a mesmerizing woman who quickly finds herself in good graces of all those around her. Vianne struggles to live a life without magic after Accidents happen with Anouk and Rosette, but Zozie has a magic and an agenda all of her own.
Definitely a great read and I loved how Harris intertwined other novels into this one - it feels like fun insider jokes to see characters from other novels pop up.
In fact, my one complaint might be that this time around, Harris has cemented her story just a little too strongly. "Chocolat" seemed to take place in a "no-time" France, with only the rare fleeting mention of technology (making it quite easy to adapt into a film set in 1959). "Shadow" is filled with credit cards, mobile phones and other indicators of the present day that seemed to slightly counteract the magical element of the story, which of course becomes more and more prevalent (and important) as the tale goes on. Furthermore, I was secretly a little pleased to have Vianne and her daughter, Anouk left to their changing wind at the end of the original novel; in the sequel, everything wraps up just a little too tidy. I realize that Vianne's need for stability is a constant theme of the book; it just made it feel the *tiniest* bit less special, that's all.
Still, though, there's a great deal to delight in here. Vianne and Anouk - now going by Yanne and Annie - find themselves faced with a new and far more terrifying adversary, Zozie, who (both realistically and magically) steals identities. The conceit of gaining trust through magical chocolates, so much a part of "Chocolat," is turned on its head here as Zozie manipulates Vianne's new chocolaterie to serve her own purpose. There are both thematic and literal links to the earlier novel - including one or two questions answered - and we are introduced to Vianne's curious new daughter, Rosette, along with her own special "spirit animal." This is a novel to enjoy over many long, savored cups of hot chocolate.
A few more words about the American edition of the novel. Although I appreciate the title of "The Girl with No Shadow," I'm a little sorry that the original title, "The Lollipop Shoes," was not kept for the American market. It just seems to fit better, especially as the eponymous shoes are such a constant through the story. Furthermore, while I enjoyed the stylistic touch of introducing the different narrated sections with a little illustration - Cat Moon for Vianne, Rabbit Moon for Anouk, and a New Moon for Zozie - these were not always consistent in my Advanced Reader's Edition, which left me occasionally confused. I hope they were corrected for the final, printed edition as they very gently telegraph the flow of the story without interrupting the ease of reading.
Overall, a very fine book. I will be recommending this to friends who have read the earlier novel or seen the film.
The Girl with No Shadow focuses less on Vianne’s story—instead it is told in the alternating voices of Vianne, her daughter Anouk and
While Chocolat could (almost) have taken place in the Middle Ages, this book has a much more modern feel, which contrasts more sharply with the book's magical elements. It is also darker in tone but as engaging and as full of memorable quirky secondary characters as Chocolat was. Harris writes with her usual flair; however, I felt it took Vianne too long to clue into what was really going on and the ending stretched the limits of my credulity.
Harris has also neatly sidestepped the issue of the different endings in the book and movie versions of Chocolat, so this book works as a sequel to either. And although I generally don’t like it when publishers change the title of a novel to suit a different market, this time I think the American title better captures the darker edge of this book.
Harris language makes you smell and taste the surroundings she
Read it. I demand of you :)
Much has changed for Vianne and Anouk. Vianne only wants to fit in and be invisible. Anouk can't understand why they have to do that. She is growing and changing
Zozie joints the group and works herself into their lives. Vianne keeps wondering what she wants and what the price she'll have to pay in the end is.
Roux (Johnny Depp in the movie) comes to Paris to find them. He feels that Vianne is in trouble. Imagine his surprise when he finds her engaged to another man and with a four year old daughter named, Rosette.
The winds of change are blowing take a trip along with it to find out what happens as the magic comes alive.
That being said, I had to keep reading it. Vianne may be less intriguing
Enter Zozie de l'Alba, a woman wearing lollipop shoes who possesses both sparkle and a past and practices a much darker sort of magic than Yanne, and things begin to change.
Part Chocolat and part Gentlemen and Players with a Joanne Harris ending that satisfies, I enjoyed every one of these 400-plus pages and hope others do, too.
Chocolat was full of colors and enchantment that we never really knew the source of. The Girl with No Shadow reveals these right away. This story starts with none of the enchantment and mystery of Chocolat. We are introduced to
It was a good story, but kind of flat for me. I prefer Chocolat.
Although it’s a sequel to Chocolat, The Girl With No Shadow is not Chocolat II. It is a darker, grittier story of mothers and daughters, and readers expecting the same Disneyesque charm of the first novel will find this contemporary fairy-tale more in the vein of the Brothers Grimm. My only quibble is I missed the zest of Vianne during most of the story. The villain was a much more compelling creation. Nevertheless, fans who loved Chocolat and want to continue the story will enjoy this book.
Too long by half, if this had been the length of 'Chocolat', which I think it could have been quite easily by cutting out the repititious thoughts from both leading ladies, the identity theft could have made a decent thriller, instead I skim read it. It was such a creepy story, and it went on for so long that I rushed to get to the end where I knew things would work out. Disappointed.
But magic finds its ways: Rosette, Yanne’s second daughter is imbued with magic in her very nature, and the fact that she is ‘different’ to other children her age only makes her ‘Accidents’ that much more potent.
The introduction of Zozie l’Alba into their lives causes the erosion of Yanne’s carefully planned obscurity. Zozie, more a stealer of lives than of mere identities, has no compunction about going after what she wants. In this case, it is Anouk’s very powerful abilities. She begins a careful campaign to steal Annie away from her family, using all the talents she has at her command.
Yanne has put magic so far behind her that she misses many cues about Zozie’s nature and plans, allowing Annie to fall under Zozie’s spell.
The very obvious differences between Roux (Yanne’s old love) and Thierry, her landlord who wishes to marry her underscore the chasm between a life lived full of magic, and one which is so removed from it that it seems like just going through the motions.
I really enjoyed the intertwining of the different types of magic employed by Zozie and Vianne. As other reviewers have noted, there is a darker feel to this book and to me that gave it much more depth than Chocolat.
Reader Susanna Burney is a good match.
While I have read another Joanne Harris novel, it was not Chocolat. That one I saw as a movie. I mean who can pass up a movie adaptation with Johnny Depp? Usually, if I hadn't already read the book, I would read it as a follow up to the movie but with this one did not do
So, while I picked up this book because of my familiarity with its characters, I'm unsure as to whether the book version and the movie version of the characters are all that similar, although it does occur to me that since Harris wrote this sequel after the movie, she could very well have smoothed out any discrepancies.
I was never enthralled but the book kept my interest well enough. Because Harris makes no bones about Zozie's amorality, a sense of impending doom hangs over the entire novel which frustrated me but also kept me invested enough to see how it all played out.
The novel is rife with identity issues and morals about the perils of not being true to one's self.
There are three narrators, Zozie, Vianne, and