Chocolat: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "We came on the wind of the carnival..." (more)
Key Phrases: river gypsies, chocolate festival, tartan coat, Les Marauds, Black Man, Armande Voizin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Vianne Rocher and her 6-year-old daughter, Anouk, arrive in the small village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes--"a blip on the fast road between Toulouse and Bourdeaux"--in February, during the carnival. Three days later, Vianne opens a luxuriant chocolate shop crammed with the most tempting of confections and offering a mouth-watering variety of hot chocolate drinks. It's Lent, the shop is opposite the church and open on Sundays, and Francis Reynaud, the austere parish priest, is livid.

One by one the locals succumb to Vianne's concoctions. Joanne Harris weaves their secrets and troubles, their loves and desires, into her third novel, with the lightest touch. There's sad, polite Guillame and his dying dog; thieving, beaten-up Joséphine Muscat; schoolchildren who declare it "hypercool" when Vianne says they can help eat the window display--a gingerbread house complete with witch. And there's Armande, still vigorous in her 80s, who can see Anouk's "imaginary" rabbit, Pantoufle, and recognizes Vianne for who she really is. However, certain villagers--including Armande's snobby daughter and Joséphine's violent husband--side with Reynaud. So when Vianne announces a Grand Festival of Chocolate commencing Easter Sunday, it's all-out war: war between church and chocolate, between good and evil, between love and dogma.

Reminiscent of Herman Hesse's short story "Augustus," Chocolat is an utterly delicious novel, coated in the gentlest of magic, which proves--indisputably and without preaching--that soft centers are best. --Lisa Gee, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly

The battle lines between church and chocolate are drawn by this British (and part French) author in her appealing debut about a bewitching confectioner who settles in a sleepy French village and arouses the appetites of the pleasure-starved parishioners. Young widow Vianne Roche's mouthwatering bonbons, steaming mugs of liqueur-laced cocoa and flaky cream-filled patisserie don't earn her a warm welcome from the stern prelate of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. In Francis Reynaud's zeal to enforce strict Lenten vows of self-denial, he regards his sybaritic neighbor with suspicion and disdain. Undaunted, Vianne garners support from the town's eccentrics, chiefly Armande Voizin, the oldest living resident, a self-professed sorceress who senses in Vianne a kindred spirit. A fun-loving band of river gypsies arrives, and a colorful pageant unfurls. The novel's diary form?counting down the days of Lent until Easter?is suspenseful, and Harris takes her time unreeling the skein of evil that will prove to be Reynaud's undoing. As a witch's daughter who inherited her mother's profound distrust of the clergy, Vianne never quite comes to life, but her child, Anouk, is an adorable sprite, a spunky six-year-old already wise to the ways of an often inhospitable world. Gourmand Harris's tale of sin and guilt embodies a fond familiarity with things French that will doubtless prove irresistible to many readers. Rights sold in the U.K., Germany, Canada, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Brazil, Israel, Norway, Greece, the Czech Republic, Poland.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition. 1 in number line edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670881791
• ISBN-13: 978-0670881796
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (213 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #662,028 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CHOCOLAT IS TO BE SAVORED, January 6, 2001

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Chocolat (Paperback)

In an accomplished fiction debut, Chocolat, English author Joanne Harris offers an intriguing modern day morality tale laced with a soupcon of sorcery. The combatants in this deliciously different take on the eons old tug-of-war between good and evil are a young woman, the daughter of a self-proclaimed witch, and a platitudinous curate.

As she struggles to find her place in the world and he equivocates to protect dusty tradition, they vie for the hearts and loyalties of some 200 French villagers, inhabitants of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, "no more than a blip on the fast road between Toulouse and Bordeaux."

Ms. Harris displays an original voice in perfect pitch as she depicts the cowed, affection starved townspeople. Her meticulous character imagery is telling: Francis Reynaud, the guilt-ridden parish cure' with his cold eyes and "the measuring, feline look of one who is uncertain of his territory;" the 81-year-old Armande Voizin "with a smile that worked her apple-doll face into a million wrinkles;" and the venal wife-beater, Muscat, who struts "stiff-legged like a dog scenting a fight."

Vianne Rocher and her six-year-old daughter are wanderers. They arrive in Lansquenet on Shrove Tuesday, where their appearance is greeted with veiled curiosity by villagers who "have learned the art of observation without eye contact." Battle lines are drawn when Vianne opens La Celeste Praline, a gaily decorated confectioner's shop on the town square, directly across from the austere St. Jerome's church overseen by Pere Reynaud.

It is Lent, the priest has decreed abstinence, deprivation. Yet, Vianne's shop is a "red-and-gold confection," her window a proliferation of truffles, pralines, Venus's nipples, candied fruits, hazelnut clusters, candied rose petals, all there to tempt Reynaud's parishioners. He sees it as a disgrace, a degradation of the faith, and eventually preaches against Vianne from his pulpit.

When a band of gypsies moor their colorful houseboats at the village's small harbor, the prelate asks them to leave. Vianne welcomes them, further infuriating Reynaud. Weakened by his self-imposed Lenten fasts, he denies his hunger and watches her shop with "loathing and fascination" as he begins plotting to rid Lansquenet of what he believes is her evil influence.

One of Vianne's staunchest allies is a kindred spirit, the elderly Armande, the village's oldest inhabitant who delights in reminding Reynaud "of things best forgotten," and dares to invite the gypsies to remain as her guests. At times fearful of the consequences, Vianne turns to her mother's cards, seeking an answer in augury. Nonetheless, she stands her ground, even making plans for a "Grand Festival Du Chocolat" on Easter Sunday. It would be a celebration with games in the square and a riot of sweets in the shop. But Reynaud sees it as an affront, an excess, he would have "The egg, the hare, still living symbols of the tenacious roots of paganism exposed for what they are."

Wisely compressing her provocative narrative to the days between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Monday, the author uses impeccable pacing in leading to Reynaud's final assault, an effort to destroy the festival and Vianne along with it.

A surprising yet fitting denouement caps this deftly told tale of lust, greed and love. Francophiles will be drawn to the evocative descriptions of daily village life, while gourmands revel in the mouth-watering descriptions of chocolate preparation. All will relish the skillful pen of Joanne Harris. Chocolat is to be savored.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pure mouthwatering escapism, March 7, 2001

By	Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Chocolat (Paperback)

I don't think I've ever read a book quite like Chocolat before. The plot is fairly simple: Vianne Rocher, a wanderer with a young daughter, arrives in Lansquenet on Shrove Tuesday. Something about the village appeals to her, despite the looming presence of the Black Man, the local priest, and she decides to stay. Taking the lease on an old bakery directly across the road from the church, she opens a chocolaterie.

A chocolate shop. In *Lent*! Thus Vianne arouses the fury of Reynard, the priest, while at the same time gradually seducing many of the townspeople one by one with the delicious smell and taste of chocolate, and her uncanny ability to divine everyone's 'favourite'. Does Vianne have some sort of supernatural powers? Can she read minds? Harris never completely answers that question, but then the first-person narrative allows Vianne to reveal only as much as she wishes, and she herself rejects any suspicion of such abilities. And yet the Tarot cards are still ever-present, as are the strange dreams and visions.

Reynaud, the priest, whose own first-person narrative takes up about a quarter of the book, is another fascinating character. Overly self-righteous and determined to be in control of everything in the village, he takes immediate exception to *Mademoiselle* Rocher and her chocolaterie, and sees it as his mission to wean his flock away from her. But he has secrets as well, some of which are suspected by the old woman Armande (another fascinating character).

As Harris takes us inexorably towards Easter, it's clear that some sort of confrontation is coming between the old habits and the new, the dull darkness of conformity and the glad brightness of joy, and the priest and the chocolate-woman. But exactly what form does it take? You'll have to read for yourself.

Oh, and don't forget to savour the secondary characters: Vianne's daughter Anouk, Armande, Guillaume and his beloved dog, Josephine the kleptomaniac who is married to a drunked wife-beater, Roux the proud gypsy and many more.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a delightful book!, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chocolat (Windsor Selections) (Hardcover)

When I bought this book last month, Lent had just begun and I found it was the perfect time to read this lovely little book!

The story takes place between Ash Wednesday and Easter and delightfully portrays true kindness and charity by using the symbolism surrounding the sweetness and comfort of chocolate. The local priest and his "groupies" distrust the new young woman who has come to their sleepy town and opened the small, warm, inviting chocolate shop just acros from his church. Chocolate represents for them decadence and evil - where for the townsfolk, it opens their eyes to lifes' joy they have been missing. As Easter - and a Chocolate Festival - approach, the "penitent" feel they must stop the festival - but we find that the forty days of Lent have taught this little town the true meanings of Christianity. Wonderfully seen from two points of view - one accepting and open, the other skeptical and closed-minded, the books' characters blossom as they stop in at the little chocolate shop. It's a story of winter turning to spring, of distrust turning to trust, of good triumphing over evil - and of chocolate delights so well-described you can taste them!