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Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1518 the 20-year-old Diego leaves Seville bound for Mexico where he joins Cortes's conquistadors and falls in love with the beautiful Ignacia. When Diego is ordered back to Spain, Ignacia gives him a parting gift: a chocolate drink, the elixir of life, and the promise that "If you are alive, then I am alive. Never cease in your search for me." But, returning to Mexico, he finds only her grave and so begins his wanderings, sometimes dictated by the forces of history, sometimes by his own whims. Through "an eternity of travel", he and Pedro reach Chiapas, the city of Ignacia's birth, where he discovers that time has slipped by a century.
Full of incident made more piquant by the introduction of significant figures along the way, Diego soon finds himself locked in the Bastille. It's 1788 and he swaps chocolate recipes with the Marquis de Sade. Then on to Vienna to create sachertorte. Fervent with questions, yet filled with despair about life's meaning, he begins his weekly visits to Freud. And all the while, his droll scrapes punctuate his slightly overdone gloom. On board ship to America, Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas solace him with talk of love and food. The early 1900s find him once more in Mexico, a man old in wisdom, but still virile in his ways.
Runcie's novel is a charming addition to the hunger for chocolate in all literary forms. This is storytelling whisked into a pleasurable mix but perhaps offers more instant gratification than lingering after-taste. --Ruth Petrie --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘The Discovery of Chocolate is as intoxicating and addictive as the substance it describes. The novel is a triumph of inspired imagination…’
Financial Times
‘The Discovery of Chocolate is a sensual delight which does not take itself too seriously and leaves a lingering sweetness in its wake. More books should be like this; elegantly written, unpretentious and unashamed fun.’
Joanne Harris, The Times
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Customer Reviews
It is not a big book, or a long read, but it is an absorbing story, which is well told
This is a remarkable story about a Portugese adventurer that travels to Mexico in the 14th century. There he meets the woman of his life: she makes chocolate. He has to go back to Portugal to his fianceé, but he and his Mexican lover drink a potion she prepared. Although he has no idea what the potion does, he is determined to return to Mexico and find the woman he loves. A remarkable and remarkably believable story unwinds through time, love and desire for chocolate. Believe me, I'm not the kind to read these sci-fi-ish books, but this hit me like a bar of Cadbury's! Enjoy the book- then enjoy making the chocolate recepies yourself. Keep a bottle of clearasil at hand!
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