Joanne Harris's Girl With No Shadow comes a decade after the original novel Chocolat, later made into a feature film (Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series))starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. Chocolat revolved around the culinary magic of Vianne Rocher, an unorthodox chocolatiere who includes a sprinkle of magic that shakes up the local conservative villagers. In Girl With No Shadow, Vianne, now renamed Yanne Charbonneau, has relocated to Paris after fleeing several other bad situations. She has shunned her magical tendencies, putting away the tarot cards and forbidding incantations by Anouk (renamed Annie), thereby trading her individuality for a stable life at the side of Thierry Le Tresset, wealthy (and stuffy) bachelor.
The novel is told from the (confusing) viewpoint of three different characters: Vianne, Anouk, and Zozie de l'Alba in a narrow timeframe ranging from October 31 to December 24. At times, the three are commenting on events happening on the same day. Vianne's past literally comes back to haunt her in the form of the mysterious Zozie, and the young Anouk is sliding into perilous teenage rebellion, hanging out in cemeteries and engaging in forbidden acts of magic.
The cast of characters is too large to be explored in detail, and even the appearance of an old friend from the original novel is lost in the fray. Having three narrators fails to solidify the action, and it took me a few chapters to clue in that different characters were narrating (the images at the top of the chapters are different for each character). Flashbacks were to actions not covered in the original novel, and the frequent time travel left me confused at the all-too-important omissions of pivotal earlier events such as the birth of Vianne's second child, Rosette, who at four is non-verbal and quite possibly autistic.
Although the descriptions of chocolates are mouthwatering, too often the action felt staged, stale, and not in the magical spirit of the original novel Chocolat. Make no mistake: this is no sweet Chocolat Part Deux; it's dark, gritty, and haunting, wrapped in dark secrets, past injustices, and the desire for revenge that consumes several characters at various points. It's definitely not a feel-good book, although if you enjoyed Vianne's character, you may enjoy The Girl With No Shadow. It's most definitely a reinvention of classic fairy tales for grown-ups.