Chocolat is a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris, which was adapted in 2000 as a film of the same name. It also exists as an audiobook, narrated by the author. and in 2012, the third in the series was published, entitled Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (Peaches for Father Francis in the US), followed by The Strawberry Thief, in 2019. In 2025, Orion Books published a prequel, Vianne.

Background

Harris has stated that she planned the novel during the Easter holidays, while she was accompanying a school trip to France. At this time Harris was teaching French in a boys' grammar school in Leeds; had a four-year-old daughter; and gave private lessons and marked exam papers to earn extra money.

Harris has indicated that several of the characters were influenced by individuals in her life: the young Anouk and her imaginary rabbit, Pantoufle, were both inspired by Harris' four-year-old, and Harris' strong-willed and independent great-grandmother influenced her portrayal of both Vianne and the elderly Armande.

Harris had no expectations that the book would be a success, having been told that her style of writing was "neither commercial nor fashionable enough to succeed, and that there was no market for books set in rural France, filled with self-indulgent descriptions of food." She describes how she wrote Chocolat "on Sunday mornings, on the living room floor with my laptop, while my husband was at work and my mother looked after our daughter."

The relationship between Vianne and Anouk is also central to the novel. Of this, Harris says: "My daughter was four when I wrote Chocolat... I like to think that caused the change; for the first time I felt ready to write like a mother, to try and express some of what motherhood felt to me."

In Chocolat Harris also explores the ideas of community And Vianne is very much an outsider: she does not attend Mass, she has no husband, wears different clothes and makes no attempt to conform, which puts her in a good position to observe the people around her.

Main characters

  • Vianne Rocher, single mother of Anouk. She is described as tall, with black curly hair and "dark eyes that seem pupilless". She has a keen sense of what people need, and great powers of intuition.
  • Francis Reynaud, a village priest in his thirties. He is fanatical and puritanical in his beliefs, due to the inspiration of Père Michel, his predecessor, and his troubled childhood.
  • Anouk Rocher, Vianne's six-year-old daughter. A precocious child with an imaginary rabbit, Pantoufle.
  • Josephine Muscat, the wife of Paul-Marie Muscat. At the beginning of the book she is a cowed, fearful figure, seeking refuge in kleptomania, but encouraged by Vianne, she leaves her abusive husband and becomes independent.
  • Paul-Marie Muscat, Joséphine's husband. He beats his wife and drinks too much.
  • Armande Voizin, mother of Caroline Clairmont. A widow in her eighties, she is the first to anticipate the changes Vianne's arrival will bring. She has a strong disdain for Reynaud and the group of villagers under his influence. She has diabetes, which causes her to suffer from diabetic retinopathy.
  • Caroline Clairmont, a staunch follower of Reynaud. Has a poor relationship with her mother, who she feels is a bad influence on her son, Luc.
  • Luc Clairmont, Caroline Clairmont's thirteen-year-old son, whom she has raised with obsessive care. Luc has a penchant for the dark and bizarre which he's been hiding for fear of upsetting his mother. He has a stutter, although it lessens in the company of his grandmother.
  • Guillaume, and elderly gentleman, devoted to his sick dog, Charly.
  • Narcisse, local farmer and florist.
  • Roux, a red-haired river-traveller and the biological father of Vianne's unborn child.

Reception

The novel won the Creative Freedom Award (2000) and the Whittaker Gold and Platinum Awards (2001, 2012), selling over a million copies in the UK and over 35 million copies worldwide. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and the Scripter Award (2001).

In 2012 The Guardian placed it at number 61 on a list of the "100 bestselling books of all time."

Publishers Weekly awarded Chocolat a starred review, saying: "Gourmand Harris' tale of sin and guilt embodies a fond familiarity with things French that will doubtless prove irresistible to many readers." The New York Times said: "Harris' description of the chocolate festival also describes the novel: <nowiki></nowiki>It is an amazement of riches. . . . Try me. Test me. Taste me."

Writing for the Literary Review, Sophia Watson asked: "Is this the best book ever written?" going on to say: "This is a truly excellent book, one of the best it has been my pleasure to read in the line of duty for years. Joanne Harris achieves everything a novelist should aim for, with no sense of effort or striving."

Author Charles de Lint praised the novel, saying "Harris' prose is an absolute delight", and comparing Chocolat to Like Water for Chocolate, although Kirkus Reviews described it as "cloying."

At the 2025 Chelsea Flower Show a new rose, Rosa Vianne's Chocolat, was launched in honour of the novel's protagonist.

Setting

The village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes is a fictional village in the Gers region of South-Western France, featured in several of Harris' novels. Situated on the (imaginary) river Tannes, a tributary of the Garonne, the name has been described by Harris as a "joke," saying: “Lansquenet” is an old French children's game, and “soutane” is the French word for a priest's cassock."

Harris has stated that Lansquenet-sous-Tannes was partly based on the town of Nérac, on the river Baïse, where Harris had relatives, and which is very close to a village called Vianne. Speaking of her decision to set the novel in an imaginary place, rather than a real one, Harris says:<blockquote>I had chosen not to set Chocolat in a real place. I wanted the freedom that fiction affords: the freedom to run things as I choose; to depict the France of my childhood in all its sweet nostalgia. As a result, for all its modern references, the world of Chocolat had a certain timeless, Brigadoon-like quality.</blockquote>Lansquenet has acquired a significant following among Harris' readers. In a piece written for the Telegraph in July 2012, she describes her own affection for Lansquenet, as well as that of her readers, many of whom have written to her to say that they have found the place, and therefore know that it exists.

Film adaptation

The film adaptation was released in 2000, directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin and Johnny Depp. It was nominated for 8 BAFTAS and 5 Oscars.

Release details

  • 1999, UK, Doubleday (), Pub date 4 March 1999, hardback (First edition)
  • 2000, UK, Black Swan (), Pub date 2 March 2000, paperback
  • 1999, USA, Viking Adult (), Pub date February 1999, hardback
  • 2000, USA, Penguin Books (), Pub date January 2000, paperback
  • 2000, USA, Penguin Books (), Pub date November 2000, paperback (film tie-in edition)
  • 2000, Australia, Black Swan (), Pub date 2000, paperback (film tie-in edition)

Sequels

A sequel to Chocolat, entitled The Lollipop Shoes (retitled The Girl With No Shadow in the US), was published in 2007. A further chapter in Vianne's story, Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (titled Peaches for Father Francis in the US) was published in 2012, which was followed by The Strawberry Thief in 2019, and Vianne in 2025.

References

  • Joanne Harris Official Website