Comfort Food – The Girl with No Shadow

This is the perfect time of year to read The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris, the sequel to her better know story, Chocolat. I don’t recall how many years ago it was that I watched the movie version of Harris’ novel; all I remember in a haze of favorite things are the French chocolaterie, Juliet Binoche, Lena Olin and a young and gorgeous Johnny Depp. So it was somehow new and fresh to discover the overplot of magic and danger steeped in this book. Heretofore, I thought the allure of the chocolate bon bons was the addition of chili.

Since the movie, I have discovered the vast array of scented and spiced chocolate, finding Vosges bars with chili, hemp and best of all bacon. I even went so far as to buy candy molds shaped like pigs to try my hand at making bacon chocolates, only giving myself a mediocre “C” for my efforts. This kitchen magic alludes me.

But back to TGWNS. Harris narrates the story alternating chapters as told by Yanne, her pre-teen daughter Anouk and the mysterious Cyndi Lauper like Zozie. After some time on the run, Yanne ends up in Paris, on Montmartre in charge of a failing chocolaterie. She is trying to blend in to the environment and not draw attention to herself and her daughters by becoming average and shedding all vestiges of her magical powers. Flamboyant Zozie upsets these plans, hexing the shop into success and tempting Anouk to dabble in the black arts as a vehicle to combat school yard bullying.

Yanne’s engagement to a “plain vanilla” kind of man falls apart as her business becomes more profitable and she gains back her self-confidence. Her former lover also reappears and while she can weigh the relative worth of comfort and security over passion, her daughters want Roux back in their lives.

Zozie collects people. At first, she seems like another gypsy con artist or identity thief but there are those ominous charms on her bracelet, one for each life.

The author is telling a tale about writing a fiction of one’s life as it is lived. The main two female characters change their names so often their true selves seem buried too deep. These masks cover other events in their younger lives that are mightily being suppressed. The plot moves quickly over two months, from Halloween to Christmas, the time of year itself loaded with traditions and ancient beliefs. At the end of the story, Harris has sent a message that each of us not only has chosen our own family, but our own history and identity. That only through honesty, trust and originality can individuals find completeness in parents, children and lovers.

This is yet another of the perfect books that Emily sent me for my birthday. I hope when she visits, she will rummage through my book case and borrow as many as catch her eye.