Loved this visit to Lansquenet sur Tannes!

It says a lot about how much I enjoyed this audiobook that I listened to it all over just a couple of weeks. Usually it can take me many weeks or even months to get through a whole audiobook but with this one I was wandering about the house with my headphones on while I was cooking the tea or washing the dishes! I loved the mix of intrigue and mystery so familiar from the other Chocolat books. This time we hear the inner thoughts of Vianne's 'special' child Rosette, a girl who rarely communicates except through animal noises and occasionally in her shadow voice. An incomer to Lansquenet sur Tannes is welcomed by many of the community which is somewhat surprising given Morgane's profession is a tattoo artist. And even more surprisingly, Vianne is the one who does not make her welcome, who sees her as a threat. Monisieur Le Cure is wracked with guilt over past secrets which threaten to come to the fore following the death of Narcisse. A novel about loving and letting go, this is another compelling and magical tale from Joanne Harris.

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9 people found this helpful

Another great story

This is another amazingly well written story of the set. I’m pleased to be back with old friends and really enjoyed this book

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5 people found this helpful

Left me wanting more.

This is another fantastic book by Joanne Harris. I especially enjoyed her narration. I have loved all of the series, I feel transported to a different world and I have been totally engrossed in the characters and story .. truly magical ... would highly recommend.

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thoroughly enjoyable

took me back to chocolat . thoughtful and well written. good narration and a story that draws you in

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The Strawberry Theif

The village of Lansquenet stole my heart many years ago when I first read Chocolat. Here many years on and after many times revisiting the first three books, I have finally finished The Strawberry Thief. I say finally finished as I think I listened to each chapter at least three times, soaking up the atmosphere, the words, the fears, the dreams. I honestly did not want it to end - perhaps because like Vianne I am that stage where the wind threatens to take all I have held close and perhaps because the people and village have become so familiar, too familiar, to want to say goodbye.
Thank you Joanne Harris for your incredible writing!!

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Wonderful

Joanne Harris has done it again, apparently this is the 4th in the Chocolat series but I must have missed the second and third. It didn’t seem to matter. This was a wonderful, clever story. I got totally wrapped up in the characters. Loved it. Only comment, sorry JH, but her voice is really annoying !

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another mastetpiece

loved every morsel of this delicious book. compelling and beautifully written, as always by this brilliant author.

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wonderful

i thoroughly enjoyed this story. well crafted, lovely gentle poetic writing. it captured my attention completely. Thankyou

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A story that gets under your skin

Joanne decided to do this audio book herself. On the one hand it’s intimate to hear the writer tell this story, on the other it’s a bit disappointing because she’s not a voice actor and this makes it difficult to recognize the caracters. But the stories, there are more than one as usual, are interesting, divers and heartbreaking. Unfortunately I did feel that tge book should have been at least 20 chapters longer and it felt a bit rushed. More background explanation on Morgane (even in hindsight) would have been nice, this would also have been helpful for Rosettes discovery at the end. She just seems to have come to a conclusion which enables her to express herself just like that, one memory of a story and that’s that, problem solved. No time is needed to adept to a new situation, it’s simply there and this feels like Joanne was very much done with her beloved characters. So no more Vianne, Anouk, Rosette and Roux. No more Bam or Pantoufle. No more chocolate. Such a shame.

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Refreshing discovery

As someone who has never read or seen the film of Chocolat, I had no idea what kind of a story this would be. I was drawn in to this small town in France and the people from the beginning.

Rosette's story is at the centre of the tale, she is an intriguing little girl, she cannot speak except occasionally in her 'shadow' voice and has an imaginary monkey, Bam, as her friend. There is also something other-worldly about her and her mother, Vianne, who makes exotic chocolates in her little shop/cafe. She wants to keep Rosette close as she is not like other children. Both mother and daughter have a magical power - to summon the wind at will.

There is a dark secret. It is revealed only when an elderly parishioner dies and leaves a large folder of 'confession' for the priest. His will bequeathed a small wood to Rosette where she was once found by him, stealing strawberries. Has he left the wood to her because she loves it, or is there something else behind it? The family strongly contests his will, wanting to sell the timber and the land with the old man's farm.

Then his shop is let to an 'artist' who brings a hint of scandal to the town but proves a magnet to the little girl. The artist encourages her with her drawing and also, mysteriously, can 'see' Bam. Something is causing Vianne fear about this growing friendship, something back in the past and in another place.

For me, the whole story felt fresh and as if it was written in the French language and translated. I loved the style of writing and the author's narration with flawless pronunciation of the French names. Then to discover that this is a continuation of Chocolat has made me keen to catch up on the previous novels. A real delight.

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2 people found this helpful