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Post by Hippiejo on Jul 25, 2021 16:04:22 GMT
Chocolat by Joanne HarrisA timeless novel of a straitlaced village's awakening to joy and sensuality - every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere.
Illuminating Peter Mayle's South of France with a touch of Laura Esquivel's magic realism, Chocolat is a timeless novel of a straitlaced village's awakening to joy and sensuality. In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival.
Chocolat's every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere. It's a must for anyone who craves an escapist read, and is a bewitching gift for any holiday.goodreads rating: 3.95
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Post by Hippiejo on Jul 25, 2021 16:25:01 GMT
I have wanted to read this book for a while, ever since being in Beynac with the lovely lavender a few years ago. This book is a lovely easy read but I have to say, I absolutely couldn't stand the priest and the way he was talking in monologue to an unresponsive person seemed contrived and completely unnecessary. So unnecessary in fact that I was at times tempted to skip through his later witterings and don't feel that the story would have been particularly compromised if I had. Don't get me wrong, I've come across a number of clergymen and women in my time that are flawed (only human after all), but this book seemed to over egg this for no real reason which in some ways made the ending for the priest seem quite limp. I felt this could have been better done from a perspective of the priest praying his own confessionals to God and the whole story would have had a much better ambiance if Reynaud had at least made some attempt to be more tolerant and welcoming. Instead he was petty, spiteful and manipulative and quite frankly he got off lightly in the end. I think Harris missed an opportunity here to construct some really good conversations between Reynaud and Vianne. Thankfully there were other characters who were just great. The story of Josephine finding her courage to face her bully, Guillaume facing his inevitable grief and Armande fighting for her right to live her life and death her way. I loved Vianne's strength and confidence and the journey of her shop was so sweet. Really looking forward to seeing the movie now if I can find it anywhere
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