Note – I was provided this book gratis by MB Communications in exchange for my honest review.
This is a prequel to the 1999 novel Chocolat by Joanne Harris. This new novel, which released just last week, returns to France to learn the back story of Vianne Rocher, the protagonist in Chocolat. Here is my book review Vianne by Joanne Harris.
Who is Vianne
The beloved book (as well as additional series and film) Chocolat left readers wanting more…how did Vianne Rocher arrive in Lansquenet and make such a magical impression as a chocolatier? Here is the novel you have been waiting for to learn the answer.
Before
Six years before Chocolat, we find ourselves in New York, where a young woman is scattering the ashes of her mother. She has spent her life adrift with her mother, changes cities and aliases always as her mother would say, avoiding the man in black.
Vianne now finds herself alone, and pregnant. With forged papers she makes her way to France and into a job with room and board at a bistro in Marseille. But Vianne has spent her life in fear and flight mode…and she begins to feel too settled in Marseille. Vianne’s magical gift helps her see inside of people and understand their past griefs. As she gets to know the old and crabby bistro owner, she knows what he is hiding, and the grief he has carried for twenty years.
Chocolat
Vianne also makes friends who are trying to open a Chocolateria. Here she she hones her cooking skills and learns she has a talent for making chocolates with a magical touch. As the babe inside her grows, she too grows in awareness of what she must do, to secure a future for herself and her child.
Joanne Harris
Harris states in a press release that her own life has mirrored Viannes over the past twenty-five years, and she felt it was time to stop and take a deep look at the past. Understanding where we come from, she says, helps us move ahead. A great reason to write a novel, and an important task for each of us to follow in midlife.
Book Review Vianne by Joanne Harris
I really did enjoy this book, even though I have never read Chocolat or anything else by Joanne Harris. I think I will now. At times the magical aspect of the story seemed unnecessary, but it still added a romantic flavor to an already flavorful plot.
****Four stars for Vianne by Joanne Harris. Thank you for reading my book review Vianne by Joanne Harris. See last week’s book review Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall.
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