Love requires chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield

Love requires chocolate is American writer and professor Ravynn K. Stringfield's debut novel. It is written from the first person viewpoint of Whitney Curry as she arrives and spends a semester boarding at a posh Parisian lycée situated near the Sorbonne in le Quartier Latin, a short walk from the Seine. Whitney is determined to launch an artistic career by writing and performing a ..."fantastic one-woman senior thesis show...I've got to make a name for myself. The legendary Whitney Curry." She's a list maker and has a bucket list for Paris. The reader is taken on a trip through the real  Paris as opposed to the tourist list that Whitney has prepared, guided by her handsome french soccer star tutor Thierry Morgan. Initially reluctant and grumpy, Thierry gradually changes and lovers of romance will not be disappointed. Progress in that department is not smooth. Will Whitney and Thierry's growing relationship just remain a Parisian romance that stays in Paris and lasts but a semester..? 

Neatly, the story is bookended by, at the start, Monsieur Polignac (her escort from the airport to the Lycee International Des Arts a Paris) when he tells Whitney that the magic of Paris must be discovered by wandering-not through lists, guidebooks and websites and at the end when she realises that  Monsieur Polignac..." was  right all along. The only way to do Paris is not by list, but by love."

The reader cannot help but feel for Whitney as she stumbles well meaningly but clumsily through homesickness, schoolwork and friendships whilst struggling to master the french language. She grapples with the production of her play (which aims to honour the life of black American Josephine Baker- music hall artist, philanthropist and French resistance worker) and working through her Parisian bucket list along with the emotional rollercoaster of a first romance. Love of chocolate is an important ingredient of this novel.

Fresh, funny, and sweet, Love requires chocolate is a very enjoyable and recommended read for young people who like romance novels. Love requires chocolate navigates young people's emotions, aspirations and interests (especially mid- twentieth century theatre and soccer) through the eyes of Whitney-a feisty, black- American girl in Paris.

Themes: Paris, Drama, Student life, Romance, Friendship, Coming of age, "The universal black girl struggle".

Wendy Jeffrey