The Girl with No Shadow

January 21, 2008
Harris revisits characters from 1999’s bestselling Chocolat
in this equally delectable modern fairy tale. More than four years have passed since Vianne Rocher pitted her enchanted chocolate confections against the local clergy’s interpretation of Lent in smalltown France; since then, Vianne has renounced magic, changed her name to Yanne Charbonneau and moved with her two daughters to Paris’s Montmartre district. There, Yanne embraces conformity and safety, much to the dismay of her increasingly troubled older daughter, Anouk. When Anouk becomes entranced with Zozie de l’Alba, an exotic itinerant who happens upon a job at the new shop, and the relationship grows increasingly sinister, Yanne must call up all of Vianne’s powers, culinary and mystical, to save her family. Harris again structures the narrative (told in alternate chapters by Zozie, Yanne and Anouk) around a liturgical season (in this case Advent). Harris gives fans much to savor in this multilayered novel, from the descriptions (including Yanne’s mouthwatering chocolate confections, Zozie’s whimsical footwear and Anouk’s artistic efforts) to the novel’s classic, enduring theme of good vs. evil—and the difficulty of telling the difference.

April 28, 2008
Harris's haunting sequel to Chocolat gets a credible, though uneven, performance from Susanna Burney, who narrates the story of Yanne Charbonneau, the confectionary artist formerly known as Vianne Rocher now living in dowdy anonymity in Paris with her two daughters, Anouk and Rosette. Yanne and Anouk's perspectives alternate with that of Zozie de l'Alba, who helps in Yanne's chocolaterie and secretly instructs 11-year-old Anouk in the old mystical ways. Burney does a wonderful job with Zozie, infusing the would-be villainess with enough enchantment and enthusiastic esprit that it is entirely believable that the neighborhood is taken in by her. Her Yanne is less successful, perhaps partly because the character herself is flat for most of the story, only gradually finding her voice and her power. However, Burney brings a proficient French accent, a lovely singing voice for the recurring lullaby leitmotif and emotional power to the novel's final scenes about the bond of maternal love. A Morrow hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 21).