Lindt & Sprüngli: Two Families, One Passion, Lisa Graf

Lindt & Sprüngli: Two Families, One Passion by Lisa Graf is not so much a story of chocolate as a chocolate fantasy — one where reality comes in fragments, and the taste is a little too sweet.

A novel that promises a legend, but serves something closer to an advertisement wrapped in a romantic package. As a reader, you expect to bite into the history of chocolate, but instead you get a sugary block of fiction with tiny pieces of reality — some of them almost invisible.

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but in this case, it was exactly the cover that caught my attention while I was browsing new releases in a bookstore. I was looking for something suitable for the hot summer months — a book that would entertain me and offer a lighter escape. And how could I resist an attractive title like Lindt & Sprüngli and the promise of an inspiring story about… chocolate?

It sounded more than enough for a reader looking for fiction with a touch of historical authenticity and a romantic flavor.

Lisa Graf’s novel seemed to meet all my expectations — until I actually started reading.

The story begins with young Rudolf Sprüngli from Zurich, who, following the advice of the apothecary Flückiger, brings chocolate to his sick mother — and she recovers. Rudolf attributes this miraculous healing to chocolate and decides to become the greatest chocolate maker of all time.

There is, however, one small problem: his father David is a journeyman in a confectionery shop, and Rudolf himself knows nothing about the production process. After becoming a journeyman too, Rudolf travels through Switzerland, trains with master chocolatier Cailler, and Suchard is also mentioned along the way.

Rudolf eventually returns to Zurich after David becomes the owner of the confectionery shop. Ambitious and entrepreneurial, he constantly strives to expand the business and fulfill his childhood dream — which leads to frequent conflicts with his more conservative father.

Of course, Rudolf is not the only central character. The narrative moves through the years and shifts between several perspectives: Katharina, the woman Rudolf falls in love with at first sight as a boy; Annerösli, the shop assistant whom Rudolf’s mother hopes he will marry; and a number of other characters.

This creates a kind of “chocolate filling,” but at times, it falls flat. Their stories feel more like side novellas, paused whenever the focus returns to Rudolf and Katharina.

What I didn’t feel was depth.

Katharina never really escapes the role of romantic object, while Rudolf — however ambitious — remains rather flat as a character.

And here comes another particularly disappointing detail: the title Lindt & Sprüngli: Two Families, One Passion suggests that Lindt will be part of the story, doesn’t it?

Well, he is completely absent from the novel.

Perhaps he will appear in the sequel.

As for historical accuracy… there is very little of it, unless we count the names. In reality, David Sprüngli was the one who laid the foundations of the dynasty, while his two sons later took different paths — one leading the Sprüngli confectionery business, and the other entering the industrial production of chocolate, which would eventually become Lindt & Sprüngli.

That, of course, could be overlooked.

But the whole novel, instead of offering the pleasure of fiction and… chocolate, felt soaked in marketing glaze.

I missed the feeling that I was reading a meaningful story about the beginning of a true chocolate legend.

If you put all of this aside and are simply looking for a very light read, the novel may still appeal to you. At times, the pace improves, Graf’s style can be engaging, the historical setting is well chosen, and there is certainly atmosphere.

We’d be happy to hear your thoughts as well.

Booklovers Rating: 2.5/5