Review: Chocolate Chocolate by Frances Park and Ginger Park

Title: Chocolate Chocolate
Author: Frances Park and Ginger Park
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Publish Date: May 10, 2011
Source: Library

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a memoir lover.
• You're a foodie.
• You're a chocoholic!

What's the Story?:

From Publishers Weekly: "When their beloved father died suddenly, authors Frances and Ginger Park (To Swim Across the World) comforted themselves with chocolates and mused on opening a confectionery shop with their small inheritance. The idea felt right to them--"a shop our late father would've loved just by virtue of its contents: chocolates and daughters"--and despite their inexperience, they decide to go for it, with their mother as silent partner. In 1984, on the day their Washington, D.C., store, named Chocolate Chocolate, opened, they already were beset with difficulties, from crumbling walls and cracking floors installed by a shoddy, shady contractor to trying to conjure strategies to gain attention and sales. Bit by bit, their clientele grows; the sisters write fondly and often humorously of the recurring characters in their new, chocolate-centric lives, from favorite customers to the kooky sales rep who becomes an employee and dear friend. They easily move between musings on friendship and family, all the while offering inspiration and valuable lessons for budding entrepreneurs. The recipe for their house truffle rounds out this appealing, engaging memoir that's sure to appeal to a range of readers, chocoholics or not."

My Two Cents:

I came across this book randomly on the "new book" shelf at my local library. I was drawn in by the adorable cover and pulled in even more once I read the inside of the cover and realized this was a book set in Washington, DC that had nothing to do with politics (YES and YES!). I've talked about how much I love books about my city of DC that aren't political. There is so much more to this city! I had never heard of Chocolate Chocolate before even though it's so very close to where I am. I'm fixing this soon after reading this book! You better believe it!

Imagine Chocolat being set in the Nation's Capital and that's pretty much what you get with this book. Armed with a dream, sisters Frances and Ginger Park start a small chocolate shop just steps away from the White House. The road is hard to make the shop successful. They contend with a bunch of issues of a small shop just starting out as well as surly bunch of DC-ers but they're able to come through it all through perseverance and relying on each other. 

Each chapter is named after one of the chocolates in the story along with a little description of what the chocolate was. Oh man, what an amazing way to get the readers sucked in the story. I'm going to venture to guess that my chocolate consumption increased by, well, quite a bit as I read this book. The descriptions of the chocolate and this charming store just really made me want chocolate! Read this book and you won't be able to help yourself either. 


Bottom line: This is a delicious story!