The Slow Food chapter in my area runs a Slow Food Book Club, and each month we select a food-related book to read. At the meetings we discuss the book and make something to eat that is inspired by the book.
This month’s selection was The Girl with No Shadow: A Novel (P.S.) by Joanne Harris, the sequel to Chocolat.
Believe it or not, I have neither read the book nor watched the movie Chocolat. So I was a little worried about whether I’d be able to jump right into The Girl with No Shadow. But when I found a copy of The Girl in the used section of my local bookstore I decided to just try it.
I had no trouble at all figuring out what was going on, once I realized that the author was writing the same story from different viewpoints (the mother, Vianne Rocher; the daughter, Anouk; and the visitor, Zozie).
It was easy to get lost in the colorful, flavorful world of the chocolate shop and small town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. Harris has a way of adding just enough detail to paint a picture, without bogging down the storyline. And what a story it is—of love, of mothers and daughters, of teenage angst, of deception, and magic.
Two words of warning, though:
- If witchcraft makes you uncomfortable, you’ll want to pass. I love the Harry Potter series, and I don’t have an issue reading about witchcraft, but I know that some choose not to read books that include pagan influence.
- If you adore chocolate, you’ll want to rid your house of it before you proceed. The descriptions of all the goodies in the shop made me super hungry!
As much as I’d love to give chocolate-making a try, for the upcoming book club meeting I think I’ll just bring some of DH’s chocolate raspberry stout. Dessert in a glass 🙂
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