The Lollipop Shoes - Joanne Harris

“It is a relatively little known fact that, over the course of a single year, about twenty million letters are delivered to the dead.” If this sounds a little ghostly and sinister, we soon learn that it is not the former, but does lead to the latter. The letters are not literally delivered to the dead – who have moved on – but merely to their last known address. It becomes sinister in that it provides our opening narrator Zozie with her ability to choose who to be. She steals identities for a living. I suppose we could say, that at least she only steals them from the dead – but we will soon ... more

Over the last few years, I have read every book by Joanne Harris, the award winning author of Chocolat, made justly famous by Juliet Binoche and Jonnie Depp in the decadent film of the same name. It is interesting to see how Harris' approach to the structure of her novels has changed over that time; although her stunning, even mouth-watering, use of language and description remains unchanged, her newest releases display a much more advanced plot layout. In her last book 'Gentlemen and Players' (review to follow shortly), I was surprised by the careful, Machiavellian way that the strands of the ... more

The Lollypop Shoes, a book by Joanne Harris, uses this name as it describes the bright shiney shoes of one of the characters. But... how many of us remember the Child Snatcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, calling out 'lollipops, come and taste my lovely lollipops!'? Be warned when you read this story, as you will become enticed! I have just finished reading this, after spending a month on it. I only have time to read a few pages at a time, and I find that this really gives me time to reflect on what I have read, and really 'live' the stories. This book is the sequel to the more famous Chocolat ... more