Continuation of Her Mother makes it better

 Continuation of Her Mother makes it better 

The girl picked up her own ball and thought of puke cake.  Her mother made the best cake,everyone knew that!  So did the book club and her sister and her brothers who smoothed the chocolate pudding whisks across their tongues during her mother's final cake making steps.  "Who wants to lick the cream cheese?"  Huffy was always first.  "Can I lick the back as well?" "Let your brother, you had your chance."  Her mother's face was shifting towards the bowls contents.  She had already pressed the walnut crust to the pan, baked it to three fifty and was adding the cream cheese with a clean spatula.  "I'll have you know that your grandma made this, the best."  She said, eyeing the Redford.

What's in this stuff anyway?  Huff asks.  Well, you know-the works," said Huffy's Mom.  "Listen-Huff, I don't have a lot time today, I've got my groceries, you're brother's soccer again, a PTA meeting at four."  "But Ma-I'm going to need the recipe to Robert Redford."  She accented the D's in Redford, pursing her lips at the end hoping to get her mother's attention in her newest interest in Robert Redford, although she had no idea who he was.

"The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court " by Michelle Moran

   

"The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court," by Michelle Moran. 

 

This novel reads with a feminist point of view, of the French Revolution.  Although the second empress is characterized as being weak and without much power over her destiny and over her new Kingdom in France, Michelle Moran does an excellent job in her research of Napoleon.

 

Napoleon takes a second empress, Marie Louise.  Louise will have a task keeping France together as she is left in charge while Napolean begins one of France's worst Revolutions.The empress convinces French citizens to take refuge at the Chateau de Rambouillet.  Once its obvious that Russia is winning, Napoleon makes a retreat to France while his Army is still fighting Russia and, so as not to draw attention to his self, Napoleon dresses like an Austrian when he visits his sister Pauline.  How cowardly is that?

Marie Louise is worried about her solitary son whom she has, had with Napoleon.  Napoleon wrote a letter to Joseph, a former king of Spain telling him his hopes for his son: "Id rather see my son's throat cut than imagine him brought up as an Austrian prince in Vienna. 

 

The fact that Napoleon would rather cut his son's throat, than have him live in Austria tells the empress that she'd better make like a bandit and get her and her son out of Napoleon's line of vision.  She decides to take her son, against the father's will to live in  Austria with her family.  When Napoleon flees France, his carriage is stalked by villagers on his way out of Paris, and the people throw rocks at his carriage.  He tries to win the people over one more time, by giving the people a speech: telling them he wasn't a traitor for leaving Russia with his army still there, that he was helping the dying by returning to France. (the Global Dig)

  

"The Girl with No Shadow:A Novel" By Joanne Harris

   

 "The Girl with No Shadow: A Novel" by Joanne Harris.  This novel had a slow opening but like all things French, I thought I would give it a chance. Harris continues the story of the mother :Viane Rocher (Rosh-ay), Teenage daughter Anouk, and youngest Rossette. This is a sequel to  Harris' previous novel "Chocolat". 

 The novel starts starts getting interesting with the introduction of the character of Zowsie, who comes to work in Viane Rocher's chocolate shop.  Zowsie is a mystical character with witch like features, and when the daughter, Anouk confides into Zowsie about her personal life, revealing all of the intimate details of school life, and bullies, Zowsie uses the details to wrap a string around Anouk and tells her she can use powers to fend off bullies all the while becoming a confident young woman. 

 Readers are introduced to the life of a typical teenager, seems boring, (but oh, not quiet)   Zowsie connects with this teenager and tells her that being a freak is okay, because Zowsie is a freak herself.  She shows Anouk exactly what freaks can do, she triggers a rude, French waitress to spill her lemonade all over her customer, with a simple snap of Zowsie's fingers. 

 I enjoyed the mother's french lullaby to her baby daughter " Layla boom boom, Layla boom boom"(If I find the actual name for this song, I'm going to keep it for myself). A reader can walk away from this novel with a quiet innocence of a story and the easy culmination of French wrapped up into a small lullaby.

 But Harris uses a little too many metaphors in her novel.  She used the wind as a metaphor , for, foreshadowing problems that happen to this family.  It seems overdone.  In fact, when Viane Rocher  mentions "the black man"  periodically throughout the novel, as the father of Viane's illegitimate children (even though the father is not black).  This has an undertone of prejudice.  Why couldn't Harris just called this man, "the Man of Wind?"  Like her over use of the metaphor.