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Read The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris
Jun. 21st, 2015 09:45 pmThe Lollipop Shoes is a book by Joanne Harris and a sequel to her bestselling novel, Chocolat, which I have never read but I did watch a movie adaptation of. I was aware that the movie adaptation isn't entirely accurate and went in expecting it to be fairly different, but there were still a few things that I found kind of jarring.
For starters, I got the impression that Chocolat was a bit of a historical, and was set in the 1950s or 60s, so I was a bit surprised when The Lollipop Shoes started referencing cell phones and texting and other modern day things, and as far as I can tell The Lollipop Shoes is actually a contemporary story. (Contemporary to 2007, anyway.)
I was also under the impression that ( mild spoilers possibly )
But you can put most of those details aside, as the story in The Lollipop Shoes isn't about the story in Chocolat.
In fact, our story starts out being narrated by an entirely new character, who we'll call Zozie de l'Alba. Zozie makes her living through identity theft, and has just recently stopped being a teacher named Francoise Lavery and is now trying to establish an identity for Zozie de l'Alba. She finds an opportunity at a flagging chocolate shop where she meets the owner's eleven-year old daughter, "Annie," and falls in love with her almost at first sight. Zozie also meets the owner, "Yanne Charbonneau" and Yanne's other daughter, the four year old Rosette. Zozie is intrigued by the chocolate shop and its residents and slowly begins to integrate herself in their lives, acting as a platonic Magic Pixie Dream Girl of sorts while secretly plotting to steal away Yanne's life.
Yanne Charbonneau, meanwhile, is not Yanne Charbonneau at all, but actually Vianne Rocher. Vianne has given up on magic and is determined to establish a stable life in Paris with her two daughters, but despite her best efforts her daughter, Anouk, is growing distant from her while their chocolate shop continues to lose money. She may be able to gain her longed-for stability if she marries their landlord, Thierry, but Thierry doesn't know "Yanne" as well as he thinks, seeing her as a sort of Cinderella. Furthermore, Thierry intends to ensure that the three women and especially Rosette, who has cri du chat syndrome, are "normal," and has difficulty in not resenting Rosette for being disabled.
Vianne's daughter, Anouk, now going by "Annie," is bullied and miserable at school on top of growing distant from her mother, and disliking Thierry, her prospective stepfather. She longs for magic and excitement to be in her life again, so when Zozie sweeps in with her colorful shoes and colorful mannerisms, it doesn't take long for Anouk to latch onto Zozie as a surrogate older sister... and potentially, a surrogate mother.
The book, narrated from the POVs of these three different women, has a noticeable focus on the mother/daughter relationship. It also tends to use pretty... loving language in describing it, especially in Zozie's narration, since she describes her feelings about Anouk as "love at first sight" and talks about "seducing" her. I am fairly sure that Zozie's feelings are platonic though, she's just a creep.
The book also deals with conformity and the difficulties of fitting into a community and being yourself without being an outsider. Anouk doesn't fit in at school until Zozie starts to tutor her, the Charbonneaus don't fit in with the community of Montmarte, Thierry wants them to conform, etc.
I found it a reasonably enjoyable bit of magical realism. The poetic and magical mood bordered on pretentious at times but the ongoing dread of Zozie making her move on the Rochers and mysterious nature of the villain kept me invested, as well as the slow untangling of the events that got Vianne and her daughters to the point where they were living magic-free in Montmarte. If you like vaguely surreal interpersonal drama, I think you might like this book.
( Some thoughts on the ending. )
For starters, I got the impression that Chocolat was a bit of a historical, and was set in the 1950s or 60s, so I was a bit surprised when The Lollipop Shoes started referencing cell phones and texting and other modern day things, and as far as I can tell The Lollipop Shoes is actually a contemporary story. (Contemporary to 2007, anyway.)
I was also under the impression that ( mild spoilers possibly )
But you can put most of those details aside, as the story in The Lollipop Shoes isn't about the story in Chocolat.
In fact, our story starts out being narrated by an entirely new character, who we'll call Zozie de l'Alba. Zozie makes her living through identity theft, and has just recently stopped being a teacher named Francoise Lavery and is now trying to establish an identity for Zozie de l'Alba. She finds an opportunity at a flagging chocolate shop where she meets the owner's eleven-year old daughter, "Annie," and falls in love with her almost at first sight. Zozie also meets the owner, "Yanne Charbonneau" and Yanne's other daughter, the four year old Rosette. Zozie is intrigued by the chocolate shop and its residents and slowly begins to integrate herself in their lives, acting as a platonic Magic Pixie Dream Girl of sorts while secretly plotting to steal away Yanne's life.
Yanne Charbonneau, meanwhile, is not Yanne Charbonneau at all, but actually Vianne Rocher. Vianne has given up on magic and is determined to establish a stable life in Paris with her two daughters, but despite her best efforts her daughter, Anouk, is growing distant from her while their chocolate shop continues to lose money. She may be able to gain her longed-for stability if she marries their landlord, Thierry, but Thierry doesn't know "Yanne" as well as he thinks, seeing her as a sort of Cinderella. Furthermore, Thierry intends to ensure that the three women and especially Rosette, who has cri du chat syndrome, are "normal," and has difficulty in not resenting Rosette for being disabled.
Vianne's daughter, Anouk, now going by "Annie," is bullied and miserable at school on top of growing distant from her mother, and disliking Thierry, her prospective stepfather. She longs for magic and excitement to be in her life again, so when Zozie sweeps in with her colorful shoes and colorful mannerisms, it doesn't take long for Anouk to latch onto Zozie as a surrogate older sister... and potentially, a surrogate mother.
The book, narrated from the POVs of these three different women, has a noticeable focus on the mother/daughter relationship. It also tends to use pretty... loving language in describing it, especially in Zozie's narration, since she describes her feelings about Anouk as "love at first sight" and talks about "seducing" her. I am fairly sure that Zozie's feelings are platonic though, she's just a creep.
The book also deals with conformity and the difficulties of fitting into a community and being yourself without being an outsider. Anouk doesn't fit in at school until Zozie starts to tutor her, the Charbonneaus don't fit in with the community of Montmarte, Thierry wants them to conform, etc.
I found it a reasonably enjoyable bit of magical realism. The poetic and magical mood bordered on pretentious at times but the ongoing dread of Zozie making her move on the Rochers and mysterious nature of the villain kept me invested, as well as the slow untangling of the events that got Vianne and her daughters to the point where they were living magic-free in Montmarte. If you like vaguely surreal interpersonal drama, I think you might like this book.
( Some thoughts on the ending. )
