The Lollipop Shoes

The Lollipop Shoes is a 2007 novel by Joanne Harrisa sequel to her best-selling "Chocolat". Darker than "Chocolat"more openly mysticalthis story is set between Halloween and Christmas.
No longer living in "Lansquenet-sous-Tannes", Vianne Rocher and her two daughters, Anouk and Rosette, are settled in the Montmartre quarter of Paris. Their lives are changed by the mysterious and free-spirited Zozie de l'Alba.
It was released in the U.S. in 2008 as The Girl with No Shadow.
Plot.
Vianne Rocher, now with two daughters, Anouk and Rosette, has forsaken magic and adventure for a monotonous life running a small "chocolaterie" in the Montmartre district of Paris. Vianne is now known as the widow Yanne Charbonneauer and Anouk is now Annie. Concealing her magical nature, she feels she is doing the right thing, but she is dissatisfied: there is friction with Anouk; money is short; there is pressure from her landlord, Thierry le Tresset, and she no longer has the inclination to make hand-made, quality chocolate.
Anouk is an unhappy adolescent. She is bullied at school and made to feel an outcast. She dislikes living in Paris and her situation seems hopeless and set to get worse.
Zozie de l'Alba comes into their lives, bringing her magic and enchantment. She seems to be exactly what Vianne herself used to be: a benevolent force and a free spirit, helping people wherever she goes. But Zozie is a thief of identities, maybe even a collector of souls. She has her eye on Vianne's life, and begins to insinuate herself into the family.
She is soon working at the "chocolaterie", helping and understanding everyone as Vianne used to do. She helps Anouk to deal with the bullies who torment her at school. The shop begins to prosper under her guidance, much to Thierry's displeasure. When Roux, ignorant that he is Rosette's father, arrives at their shop, Zozie helps Vianne to decide between a stable life with Thierry and a romance with the man she loves.
But as Vianne's life begins to improve little by little under Zozie's influence, it becomes clear that all this must come at a terrible price. Finally, Vianne is forced to confront Zozie on her own ground, to reclaim her magic and her identity and to fight back - but is it too late?
Themes.
Fear.
A recurring theme is that of Vianne's fears. There are three; the Wind, the Black Man, and The Kindly Ones (A euphemism used for the Furies, the Greek personification of vengeance). The Kindly Ones are explicitly shown to be those who mean good but actually cause pain; to Vianne these are usually social workers, priests, and doctors. To Zozie, the Kindly Ones are the cost of the lives she leads; the authorities after her for fraud, theft and possibly murder. The Black Man are those who cannot live with the happiness of others, but this is never explained completely and The Black Man could be childish monsters. In this novel, Zozie is the Black Man. The Wind quite simply represents destiny, something which tells Vianne to leave a place even though she never wants to, and this is why she fears it. To Zozie, the wind is the force that drives her to travel, the wanderlust that moves her to travel.
In "Chocolat", Vianne confronts her fear of the Black Man, by opposing Reynaud. Here, in this novel, Vianne confronts the Wind - one way or another, by choosing to stay.
Magic.
The magic in this book is a mix between the power of an open mind and a sort of strong intuition or powerful perception that nearly cross into the fantastic. The print of the Magical realism style is ever-present.
Free Will versus Fate.
All the books reflect the combat against a predestined will. Vianne feels the force of the wind, and is driven by it, yet as she struggles to settle.
Chocolate.
Just as in "Chocolat", the power of chocolate, as a symbol for love and tolerance, is shown again in "The Lollipop Shoes".