Storytime. Working as a book agent makes you not go to a bookstore that much because if you want a book, you can order it yourself and get it delivered to your desk. However, this takes away the opportunity to see new releases lying on shelves waiting to be discovered by me. Around Christmas, I had some time to kill and that is when The Strawberry Thief waved at me and politely asked me to give it a new home.
In The Strawberry Thief, the story continues. But let’s make a quick jump back into the past to the year 2000 when the movie Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, was released.
Based on the novel written by Joanne Harris (published in 1999), Chocolat tells the story of single mother Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk who want to set roots in the little town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, a small French town settled between Toulouse and Bordeaux. Grown up as a nomad, Vianne never stays long at one place, but she always shares what her mother taught her, to make exquisite chocolate which fits the one eating it and gives exactly what they need. Joy, memories, love.
In 2007, Harris went back to see how the chocolaterie has been doing in The Girl With No Shadow and again in Peaches for Father Francis, published back in 2012.
In The Strawberry Thief, we not only see Vianne and Anouk again, but also have the pleasure to know how Roux, her river-gypsy husband, has been doing. The faithful reader knows of, but does not know much about her, is Vianne younger daughter, Rosette, who is now 16 and learns to cope the magic which lies in her family.
What makes Harris’ story about Vianne and her girls special is that there is always magic in the air. It’s never really explained, but there as well is the phenomenal chocolate which I always think I smell when I dive into the story.
To be honest, after watching the movie when I was maybe like 12 and reading the books afterwards, which came out with many years passing by in between them, I have trouble to remember everything that has happened. However, it is still nice to come back to a story 20 years later which I discovered as a kid.
In this book, Narcisse, the town florist, dies. He leaves Rosette some land and asks her to take care of his strawberries. The town priest, Reynaud, who once, despite Vianne, receives a written confession of what Narcisse once did to someone the reader cares about. And then there is this new shop which opens at the former florist’s shop across from Vianne: a tattoo studio. It is no surprise that every book series changes over time. So of course, there are now computers and smartphones in the story which for me, makes it a whole other experience as does the tattoo studio which feels completely out of space in this sleepy once conservative town.
I would have never pictured Anouk to live a different life to the one she grew up with, too. The only thing that stayed the same is that she still dreams big and cannot shake away to be at least a bit of a nomad. Rosette reminds me a lot of how Anouk was in the first book: a shy and quiet little girl for which the world seems to be too big with magic surrounding her which other would be never able to understand.
As mentioned earlier, I do not remember everything that has happened in the previous books and that is the one big thing that bothers me. There was no overview or little re-introduction to the characters, which made it pretty tough to find my way into the story. So for all of you who read the three previous books, please reread it before you pick up this one so then you can fully enjoy it.
And for those of you who never read the other ones? You can read the book without having the background knowledge, because it focuses mostly on Narcisse. You probably will be okay with understanding the other characters.
The Strawberry Thief is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The compelling new novel from the author of the bestselling Chocolat.
Vianne Rocher has settled down. Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, the place that once rejected her, has finally become her home. With Rosette, her ‘special’ child, she runs her chocolate shop in the square, talks to her friends on the river, is part of the community. Even Reynaud, the priest, has become a friend.
But when old Narcisse, the florist, dies, leaving a parcel of land to Rosette and a written confession to Reynaud, the life of the sleepy village is once more thrown into disarray. The arrival of Narcisse’s relatives, the departure of an old friend and the opening of a mysterious new shop in the place of the florist’s across the square – one that mirrors the chocolaterie, and has a strange appeal of its own – all seem to herald some kind of change: a confrontation, a turbulence – even, perhaps, a murder…
