Synopsis
'Who died?' I said. 'Or is it a secret?' 'My mother, Vianne Rocher.' Seeking refuge and anonymity in the cobbled streets of Montmartre, Yanne and her daughters, Rosette and Annie, live peacefully, if not happily, above their little chocolate shop. Nothing unusual marks them out; no red sachets hang by the door. The wind has stopped - at least for a while. Then into their lives blows Zozie de l'Alba, the lady with the lollipop shoes, and everything begins to change...But this new friendship is not what it seems. Ruthless, devious and seductive, Zozie de l'Alba has plans of her own - plans that will shake their world to pieces. And with everything she loves at stake, Yanne must face a difficult choice; to flee, as she has done so many times before, or to confront her most dangerous enemy...Herself.

I really enjoyed this sequel to Chocolate, infact dare I suggest I preferred it. It is not my favourite Joanne Harris novel (that would Five quarters of the orange) and it is possibly a little longer than it needed to be, however it is very readable and towards the end quite unputdownable. The occult - which is only hinted at in Chocolate - features strongly, as does aztec magic. It is altogether a much darker novel, although it retains a fairly light touch. As this novel opens we find Vianne Rocher - now called Yanne Charbonneau rather diminished, no longer trusting her magic. Zozie breezes in and plans to steal Vianne's (yanne's)life.

Bookring will be starting soon.

Nordie
caterinaAnna
Becky1979
Katisha50
catrionamoore
scotsbookie
Oceanripples
mochagirl.
veganknitter
Inver
JuliaKO
Samrana
Loribee

RELEASE NOTES:

passing to Nordie todat at the meet up.

Have a few short books to finish and then will get to this in the next few days. Thanks for organising!

This is the follow on from Chocolat and set 4 years later. When reading C, I hadnt realised how modern the setting was - it was only in this book and the talk of Euros, that I realised it was an early 21st century story, rather than set mid 20th.

Lots more magic in this book, both of European and South American. It is the story (in part) of Vianne and Zozie, and what Vianne is prepared to lose in order to gain what she believes is a normal life for her and her two daughters. Zozie starts taking over Vianne's life, building up the chocolate shop just as Vianne had done in Chocolate, and winning over Vianne's older daughter. Finally Vianne has to decide on what she wants in this world

Agree that it's perhaps a little long, and the main disadvantage when reading Harris' books - I have a near overriding urge to Bake! (I've even hunted out the cookery book and may inflict the results on people!).

Planning where to go next

RELEASE NOTES:

Next step!

Recieved from nordie this evening and I met the next person on the ring.
*waves*

Couldn't wait to start this, but managed to restrain myself to the extent of making it wait its turn and spread reading it over several school nights. Apologies therefore for the delay in journalling.

Like Heaven-Ali, I thought this was better than Chocolat. Vianne is something of a cipher in that book, someone to whom things happen, but in this her feelings and character are much more to the fore. I enjoyed the multi-stranded narrative and thought that Annie's hesitancy to be seduced by the gifts Zozie helped her to develop was superbly handled - something vital if magical realism is to be credible. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and going to add it to wish list two.

I have becky1979's address, and will try to get this in the post very soon.

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way at last. Apologies for the delay.

Arrived in the post, many thanks!

I really enjoyed this book. Am putting it into the post for Katisha50 asap!

Received today, thank you! Will get to this as soon as I can, but my reading seems to have slowed down lately.

Not quite within the month, sorry!

At the risk of being repetitive, I thought it was better than Chocolat, although overlong. I have to say I took it to work today in order to finish it because the ending is very gripping.

Will be on its travels very shortly.

Arrived safely - I'd forgotten that I'd even signed up for this ring!

Ok so it seems this has stalled - several pms to the last reader have not been responded to. So I am re-starting this ring with another copy

The Lollipop Shoes ring