As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this was a sequel to Chocolat. The book was good, as Harris' books always are, but I was a little disconcerted by the different flavor of this. One review said that it was a much darker chocolate, but I also found it to be somewhat bitter.
In other novels by Harris, such as Chocolat, Blackberry Wine, and Coastliners, for example, the magic that exists in the text is subtle. The seduction of the chocolate, the vivacity of the wine, and the power of the tides and shifting sands, are all built to create a motif throughout each novel. In this way, she weaves magic into her novels without making the suspension of disbelief very necessary.
In The Girl With No Shadow the magic is more blatant, clearly practiced by witches, and taking a somewhat odd turn more suited to a fantasy novel than Harris' usual type. As I said, it is still a good novel, but I miss the subtlety of the others I listed above, and the power present in, say, Five Quarters of the Orange.
As always, though, the novel was worth the read, and Harris' prose sometimes makes me wonder why I bother to write at all, because I could never produce something so artfully crafted. But, then again, it just gives me something to aspire to.
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