What a rare treat it is to revisit a character like Vianne Rocher from the delicious book Chocolat! I’ve often wondered in the years since I read, and reread, that book, what became of the vivacious chocolatier and her daughter Anouk – and now I know! How often does that happen?
In this “continuation” of the story (Joanne Harris doesn’t call it a sequel), it is five years since we left Vianne and Anouk after their chocolate festival in Lansquenet. Now, they are living in oontmartre in Paris, running another chocolate shop and going by the names of Yanne and Annie. Plus there’s a new member of the family, the strange but delightful Rosette.
It seems Vianne has changed more than her name now she’s in the big smoke. She’s no longer hand-making truffles. Nor is she using her special gifts to guess what makes her customers happy. Worse than that, she is contemplating marriage to a boring old bossy boots. What on earth can have happened to knock the stuffing out of her so thoroughly?
Things start to look up, however, when the vibrant Zozie de L’Alba shows up with her pink hair and lollipop shoes and injects a jolt of life back into the family. Anouk/Annie is particularly taken with this exciting new friend, who is brimming with the magic her mother now lacks.
But there’s no such thing as a free hot chocolate: Zozie is no angel. In fact, she’s quite the opposite, as Vianne and the family she holds so dear are soon to find out.
Zozie, Vianne and Anouk share narration of the story, which I find distracting in some books but not this one. And if the tale takes a while to get going, don’t get impatient, just snuggle down and enjoy the journey, because the destination is well worth the trip. I had tears dripping off the end of my nose by the final pages. I just love it when that happens, don’t you?
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