The Discovery of Chocolate - Softcover

"This enchanting novel takes up where strict histories of chocolate leave off, exploring the spiritual and emotional effects of chocolate and how these magical qualities have moved people throughout the ages. It gives a soul to the existing body of knowledge."--Nick Malgieri, author of "Chocolate and "Cookies Unlimited"The next time you place on your lips the final moist fragments of a Sachertorte or taste the dark nipple of a Hershey's Kiss and imagine the wickedness that gave us such marvels, turn to James Runcie. His treasure of a book, fantastic and delicious and dreamily erotic by turns, will transmute your yearning for the bitter water into a craving from which you will, quite happily, never recover."--Simon Winchester, author of "The Professor and the Madman"Runcie's provocative imagery transports the reader on a marvelous journey through centuries of chocolate fact and lore. The climax of the narrative is as sweet as the subject matter."--Marcel Desaulniers, author of "Death by Chocolate Cakes"James Runcie has whipped up a rare entertainment--a fable as richly satisfying as chocolate itself. This bittersweet tale, beginning with a conquistador's first magical encounter with the seeds of the cacao, tells how chocolate becomes the elixir of his life, extending his loves and adventures through centuries, across continents and into the lives of some very famous names. It is a confection of delights."--Timothy Findley, author of "Pilgrim"

Diego de Godoy sets off for South America in 1518 with Cortes and the Conquistadors. During his travels he falls in love with Ignacia, a native woman who introduces him to the secrets of the most delicious drink he has ever tasted: chocolate. Tragically, their passionate affair is cut short by the chaotic conquest of Mexico.

Diego later discovers that his lover had secretly added the elixir of life to his chocolate. Unable to die, he lives on through history -- Paris during the time of the Revolution, Vienna in the 19th century, late Victorian England, and Hershey, Pennsylvania -- accompanied by his trusty greyhound, Pedro. All the while, he searches to recapture the magic of Ignacia's chocolate -- and to learn to love life just as fully.

Playful and intelligent, this is a romantic story about love and loss inspired by a very enchanting substance.