During the party, one of the boats-Roux’s-begins to burn. The gypsies invite Vianne and her friends to a party on their boats. One of the gypsies, Roux, becomes a regular visitor to the shop and Vianne intuits that he and Joséphine have taken a shine to one another.

The townsfolk, lead by the priest, try to chase them away, but Vianne and her friends give them a warm welcome. We learn that Vianne inherited her powerful intuition from her mother and that she has wandered from village to village her whole life, blown by the wind and fleeing the “Black Man.” A group of river gypsies makes their annual mooring near the town. A self-proclaimed “sorceress” herself, Armande identifies Vianne as a “witch,” and although Vianne doesn’t approve of the word, she accepts that Armande understands her. Vianne arranges for Armande and Luc to see each other while Luc’s mother is busy. Armande becomes a regular visitor to the shop, drinking Vianne’s rich hot chocolate despite her diabetes. Armande is feuding with her daughter Caroline, who won’t allow her son Luc to visit his grandmother. Joséphine blossoms under Vianne’s care, becoming newly youthful and confident.Īnother of Vianne’s strays is the eccentric old woman Armande Voizin. Paul-Marie is furious and so is Père Reynaud, who despite knowing about Joséphine’s suffering insists on the sanctity of marriage vows. Vianne persuades her to take a job in the chocolate shop instead, and to move in with her. She soon learns that Joséphine has been beaten and abused by her husband Paul-Marie and is planning to run away. Sensing that the old woman is troubled, Vianne pretends not to notice the theft and befriends Joséphine. A village woman, Joséphine Muscat, steals a box of chocolate almonds. When Vianne learns that Charly is dying, she gives the dog a chocolate that seems to alleviate his symptoms.

Vianne befriends the village’s loners and outsiders, beginning with Guillaume, and old man whose only friend is his dog, Charly. Vianne explains, “We don’t attend, you know.” When the priest learns that Vianne is unmarried, his outrage turns to horror. Père Reynaud pays Vianne a visit: it is Sunday, and he didn’t see Vianne or her daughter at church. Each protests that they have given up chocolate for Lent, but Vianne displays an uncanny ability to identify exactly the chocolate that will tempt them: “It’s your favorite kind.” Several of the villagers become regular customers. One-by-one, the villagers enter the shop. It is Lent, a time of austerity and solemnity, not appropriate for opening a shop that encourages indulgence and sensuality. Vianne rents an apartment and turns an abandoned bakery into a “chocolaterie artisanale,” which she calls La Céleste Praline. Vianne and Anouk enjoy the festival so much that they decide to stay in Lansquenet. In the midst of the crowd are two recent arrivals: the beautiful Vianne Rocher and her daughter, Anouk. At the rear of the procession is a solemn figure in black: the curé, Père Reynaud. On the single quiet street of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, a parade is progressing past the small shops and the white-painted church. The novel was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and adapted into a film of the same name, starring Juliette Binoche, in 2000. It tells the story of the mysterious Vianne Rocher, who arrives in the traditional and strait-laced French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, where she opens a chocolate shop that quickly becomes a focal point for resistance to the village priest, Francis Reynaud. Chocolat is a 1999 novel by the British writer Joanne Harris.

Chocolat 2000