Tag: Vianne Rocher

Day 331: Peaches for Father Francis

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Cover for Peaches for Father FrancisLast seen in Paris in The Girl with No Shadow, Vianne Rocher has been living there on a boat with Roux and her two daughters. However, the wind is about to blow her back to Lansquenet, the village she left at the end of Chocolat. In fact, her summons comes from the dead, as she receives a letter from her long-departed friend Armande. Armande’s grandson has reached his majority and, with other papers, received and forwarded a letter for Vianne telling her that Lansquenet needs her help.

Roux is mysteriously reluctant to return to Lansquenet, so Vianne takes her daughters Anouk, 15, and Rosette, 5, for the journey back to the village. She arrives during Ramadan and finds the village practically in a state of war. A large population of Moslems has moved into Les Marauds, the slums where Vianne had her chocolaterie. At first cautiously welcomed into the community, the Moslems now are at odds with the original inhabitants.

This state of affairs is almost uniformly being blamed on Ines Bencharki, a veiled, mysterious woman dressed in black. However, it has most urgently affected the fate of Vianne’s old nemesis, Father Francis Reynaud. He has been accused of burning Madame Bencharki’s home, the same building Vianne used for her chocolaterie, which Ines had turned into a school for Moslem girls. Father Francis is expecting to be transferred out of the village by the bishop. Ironically, he finds himself forced to turn to Vianne for help.

Although I continue to enjoy Vianne and her family, I feel that this novel does not contain the magic of the previous two and is a little more predictable. Vianne’s doubts about Roux’s fidelity seem too foreseeably wrong. We know that Vianne favors the underdog, but considering Reynaud’s unrelenting treatment of her in Chocolat, their alliance seems unlikely. The flavor of the small village that makes us want to return there, so evocative in Chocolat, is missing.

Also, few of the secondary characters, so colorful and interesting in the other books, are given much consideration here. Luc, whose house Vianne and her family are staying in, barely gets a mention. Even though Vianne makes friends with several of the Moslem women, their personalities do not stand out, one from the other. Only the old lady Omi is her own self. The sole old friend who gets any attention is Joséphine.

Nevertheless, it is always a pleasure to spend time with Vianne. There is real danger in this novel and an evil villain. And as always, the novel is beautifully written.

Day 189: The Girl with No Shadow

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Cover for The Girl with No ShadowI just reviewed Chocolat recently, so I thought I’d continue with a review of The Girl with No Shadow, Joanne Harris’ sequel to that novel.

The wind is blowing trouble toward Vianne Rocher, now running a small chocolatierie in Montmartre in Paris. The trouble is coming in the form of a con woman with many names, whom Vianne will know as Zozie de l’Alba.

Vianne herself has another name. She is going by Yanne Charbonneau because of some problems that developed after the birth of her second daughter, Rosette, now four. Vianne has been doing everything she can to avoid standing out. Anouk is now known as Annie. Gone are the red dresses with bells hanging from the hems. Yanne is demure and nondescript and doesn’t use her magic, even to know what a customer’s favorite chocolate is.

Annie, at eleven, is unhappy with school and with the changes in their lives. Soon more seeds of discontent are sown. As Zozie weasels her way into their lives and prises away their secrets, she decides that when she leaves, she is taking Annie with her. So, she does her best to encourage Annie’s rebellion against her mother.

Again, Harris combines the gentleness and kindness of Vianne’s temperament with a fair amount of suspense. As we learn more about Zozie’s past, we find out just how dangerous and devoid of conscience she is.

As usual the writing is beautiful, sprinkled with the scents and flavors of the chocolatierie and a dash of magic.

Another novel about Vianne and her family is just out, Peaches for Father Francis, so I guess I had better get reading!

Day 182: Chocolat

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Cover for ChocolatI decided to review Chocolat today because I just started reading The Girl with No Shadow, Joanne Harris’s sequel. Even though I have always enjoyed reading Harris’s books, I didn’t read Chocolat until long after seeing the movie, perhaps because I saw it first. The movie is pleasant enough but anemic and inexplicable, and as I found later, does nothing to convey the magic of the novel.

Vianne Rocher and her six-year-old daughter Anouk blow into the small village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes with the wind. They are distinctly odd. Vianne wears red skirts with bells on them, and Anouk has an imaginary friend, a rabbit named Pantoufle, that some folks occasionally think they’ve glimpsed.

Vianne opens a chocolate shop, making her own wonderful confections. She seems to have an almost sixth sense about which chocolate will be each person’s favorite, and she creates miraculously inventive window displays for special days. She also begins befriending some of the village’s misfits.

This all sounds very pleasant, but Pére Reynaud, the local priest, hates Vianne on sight. She has opened a chocolate shop during Lent! Right across the street from the church! He begins a campaign to try to force her out of town. When Vianne plans a chocolate festival to celebrate Easter, he believes she is being sacrilegious and vows to ruin the festival.

Vianne herself has lived like a vagabond her entire life and wants to settle down. Her witch mother died on the streets of New York, and she wants her child to have a better life than hers has been.

The novel is colorful and teems with eccentric characters, as well as lovely descriptions of food. It is beautifully written. As I read it, I was able to understand why the book is so beloved.