Book 399

The Girl with No Shadow, by Joanne Harris, Harper, 2007.


This book is the sequel or follow-up to Chocolat, but it doesn't really feel like part of a series. 

"The Girl..."  could stand alone just fine without Chocolat, and Chocolat was not originally intended to be more than one book.  While I liked this book and the returning characters, very much, it becomes problematic if I try to make it directly follow Chocolat.  Chocolat felt like it took place at an earlier time -- mid-20th century, whereas this book is very contemporary.  To go from one era to another with the same characters is jarring.  Also, Chocolat did not feel so much about magic -- just charm or glamor -- but the magic angle is very much played up in "The Girl..."

So, I did like this book, very much, but I might have liked it even more if I wasn't trying to make it work with Chocolat.