Chocolat

TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REISSUE OF JOANNE HARRIS' BELOVED BESTSELLER, with new introduction and first chapter from the new Vianne Rocher Novel, The Strawberry Thief (Gollancz April 19)'A feel-good book of the first order. One to curl up with... Read it' OBSERVERIn the small French village of Lansquenet, nothing much has changed in a hundred years. Then an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, blows in on the changing wind with her small daughter, and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church. Soon the villagers cannot keep away, for Vianne can divine their most hidden desires.But it's the beginning of Lent, the season of abstinence, and Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock. Perhaps even a witch...'Sensuous and thought-provoking... subtle and brilliant' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Is this the best book ever written? Truly excellent' LITERARY REVIEW'Moody and atmospheric... a richly textured tale' INDEPENDENT

Winner of Whitaker Gold Book Award 2001
Short-listed for Whitbread Book Awards: Novel Category 1999
Short-listed for Whitbread Prize (Novel) 1999

“"Accomplished and delectable....Few readers will be able to resist ." --New York Times Book Review From the Trade Paperback edition.”

Mouthwatering ... a feelgood book of the first order ... your senses are left reeling. Read it Observer
Is this the best book ever written? Truly excellent ... Harris's achievement is not only in her story, in her insight and humour and the wonderful picture of small-town life in rural France, but also in her writing Literary Review
Sensuous and thought-provoking ... subtle and brilliant Daily Telegraph
A celebration of pleasure, of love, of tolerance Observer
An addictive read ... haunting, obsessive and just a little nutty, like a freshly made praline -- Elisabeth Luard, author of "Family Life"

Joanne Harris is the internationally renowned and award-winning author of over twenty novels. Her Whitbread-shortlisted novel Chocolat was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She is the author of several other bestsellers, including The Lollipop Shoes, Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure and The Strawberry Thief. She has also written acclaimed novels in such diverse genres as fantasy based on Norse myth (Runemarks, Runelight, The Gospel of Loki), and the Malbry cycle of dark psychological thrillers (Gentlemen & Players, Blueeyedboy, and Different Class).Born in Barnsley, of an English father and a French mother, she spent fifteen years as a teacher before (somewhat reluctantly) becoming a full-time writer. In 2013, she was awarded an MBE, and in 2022 an OBE. She lives in Yorkshire, plays bass and flute in a band first formed when she was sixteen, and works in a shed in her garden. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and served for four years as Chair of the Society of Authors. She also has a form of synaesthesia which enables her to smell colours. Red, she says, smells of chocolate.

When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock - especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. As passions flare and the conflict escalates, the whole community takes sides. Can the solemnity of the Church compare with the sinful pleasure of a chocolate truffle?

Vianne Rocher moves to a French village and opens a chocolate boutique at the beginning of Lent! The local priest is outraged and the ensuing controversy escalates into a 'church not chocolate' battle.

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