Girl With No Shadow . . . .

AT LAST! If you loved both the book by Joanne Harris and the film Chocolát, you will be as delighted as I am that the sequel has finally arrived on the bookshelves! And it is beautifully, lyrically written, filled with delightful new characters as well as the ones we grew to love—Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk, and (think Johnny Depp) that sexy gypsy, Roux! Vianne and Anouk have taken on a new identity on a small Montmartre street in Paris, along with her new baby, Rosette. She’s maintaining a low profile and insists her daughters do the same—she wants to stay put this time and not draw the dark winds’ or the attention of the “kindly ones,” those so sure they know what’s best for everyone else.

Vianne has given up magic, her tantalizing red dress hangs limply at the back of her closet along with the tattered delight of her earlier days. Anouk has been told there is no such thing as magic, only “accidents” with unforeseen consequences; however, Rosette, who is too young to heed such warnings, performs her own magic with the gleeful collaboration of her monkey totem. This time, the chocolate shop is dull and doing poorly—Vianne buys her products and has hidden away her equipment along with the shine of her former life.

Blown in on a gust of no good on a cold, rainy fall day, shapeshifter Zosie appears on the scene wearing high-heeled ruby slippers and carrying with her evil intent from the highlands of Aztecan Mexico. We now have a recipe for disaster and identity theft, with just a dash of chiles and a hint of magic mushrooms to spice things up!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it--if you like stories that carry with them more than a touch of imagination, a spark of light vs. dark and good vs. evil, all rolled into something that will melt in your mouth—

-- Rosemary