'Chocolat' by Joanne Harris

What a delectable novel! It is about Vianne Roche and her daughter Anouk who move into a little town of Lasquenet in France. There, they decide to open a chocolaterie, right across the street from the only church in town. Vianne is a mysterious character, with some psychic powers giving her the ability to know what  her customers' favorite sweets are. Until the day Vianne and Anouk came to Lasquenet, they had been always on the move, never staying in one place for too long. Such a way of living was passed on to Vianne from her late mother, who was always running away from 'the Black Man'. Vianne thinks she meets 'the Black Man' in Lasquenet. He is Father Reynaud, a strict priest, whose rules are obeyed by almost everyone in the town. And so, when Vianne comes along, all of a sudden giving the villagers a choice, another social spot, making it clear that she is a non-believer and 'tempting' Reynaud's parishioners with chocolates during the Lent, she becomes Father Reynaud's number one enemy.


Chocolat is a small book, but just like a little chocolate truffle, it held a lot of delicious flavors. The writing is truly poetic, I did feel like I was eating my favorite dessert. Vianne is an adorable character, you can't help but like her. She transforms the little town filled with hypocrisy and bigotry. All the vices get easily exposed but so do the good traits in the residents. And one might look at the competition between the priest and Vianne as very controversial, being that the priest is shown as the most hypocritical character, but I think that Ms. Harris merely showed the difference between the good and the bad in all of us, our attitude to the change, our willingness to accept the unknown and to stay true to who we are, even in the face of great danger.