Chocolat
Encyclopedia
Chocolat is a 1999
1999 in literature
The year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...

 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Joanne Harris
Joanne Harris
Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris is a British author.Biography=Born to a French mother and an English father in her grandparents' sweet shop, her family life was filled with food and folklore. Her great-grandmother had an odd reputation and enjoyed letting the gullible think she was a witch and healer...

. It tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young mother, who arrives at a fictional insular French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk. Vianne opens La Céleste Praline, a small chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

rie, and her confections quickly begin to change the lives of the townspeople through magic, setting up a conflict with Francis Reynaud, the parish curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

. Chocolat is a recent contribution to the literary stream of Magic Realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...

.

Harris has indicated that several of the book's characters were influenced by individuals in her life: Her daughter forms the basis for the young Anouk, including her imaginary rabbit, Pantoufle. Harris' strong-willed and independent great-grandmother influenced her portrayal of both Vianne and the elderly Armande.

Chocolat is French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 for "chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

", and is pronounced ʃɔkɔˈla or "shocola".

A sequel to the novel, The Lollipop Shoes
The Lollipop Shoes
The Lollipop Shoes is a 2007 novel by Joanne Harris and is a sequel to the best-selling Chocolat. It tells the story of both Vianne Rocher, a chocolatier with two children, and that of Zozie de l'Alba, a 'collecter' of identities....

, was released in the UK in 2007; under the title The Girl with No Shadow, it was released in the US in 2008.

Plot summary

The story begins as a woman, by the name of Vianne Rocher, and her daughter, Anouk, move into the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. They are brought by "the wind" during the last days of carnival, and they settle and open a chocolaterie, La Praline Celeste. The village curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 Francis Reynaud, is initially mystified, because Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

, has just begun, but his confusion turns rapidly to anger when he understands that she does not obey the church, and "flouts" the unspoken rules that he feels should govern his "flock".

Vianne, we learn from her personal thoughts, is a witch though she does not use the word. Her mother and she were wanderers, going from one city to another. Her mother strove to inspire the same need for freedom in her daughter, who was more social and passive. They were born with gifts, and used them as domestic magic, to earn their living. Before her mother's death, they've been running from the Black Man, a recurring motif in her mother's tarot. When her mother was killed by a cab, she went on her own, trying to evade the Black Man and "the wind" and settle down.

The chocolaterie is an old dream of hers. She has an innate talent at cooking and a charming personality. She tries to fit in and help her customers. She starts having regulars, and, to Reynaud's dismay, she doesn't go out of business.

Reynaud attempts to have Vianne run out of town, and he talks about every Sunday, at church. Some people initially stay away but not for long. His conflict with her becomes his personal crusade. Vianne, however, announces a "Grand Festival of Chocolate," to be held on Easter Sunday.

Characters

  • Vianne Rocher, mother of Anouk, blows in to the small village of Lasquennet-sous-les-Tannes and opens a chocolaterie, during the time of Lent
    Lent
    In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

    . She is described as taller than the average woman, with black curly hair, "dark eyes that seem pupilless", straight brows that would make her face stern if not for the amused quirk of her mouth, a little too big. Her favourite chocolate is and her favourite scent is mimosa. She loves Anouk very much, and her greatest fear is that they'll be torn apart. She was a friendly, charming personality, but stubborn too, and she stands up for her beliefs, in a mild yet firm manner. She has a keen sense of people and great powers of intuition.
  • Francis Reynaud is the Black Man in this book. He tries to make Vianne and her daughter leave as he initially believes her shop inappropriate during Lent, but he later comes to believe that she is Satan
    Satan
    Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

    's helper. He is fanatical
    FANatical
    Fanatical is a Canadian half-hour documentary television series produced by Peace Point Entertainment Group and currently airs on TVtropolis and DejaView. FANatical explores the motivations and activities of people involved with the fandom of various television series...

     and puritan
    Puritan
    The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

     in his beliefs, due to the inspiration of père Michel, the former priest of Lansquennet, and of his troubled childhood. He has a strong sense of dignity, which might be mistaken for pride sometimes, an obsession with following the rules and believes himself superior in terms of moral strength and intellect as he observes with chagrined disdain in one of his confessions.
  • Anouk Rocher
  • Josephine Muscat is the wife of Paul-Marie Muscat. At the beginning of the book she is a silent fearful figure, the result of the incessant brutal treatment received at the hand of her husband. She starts to hope after Vianne offers her her friendship, and finally she leaves her husband. Vianne offers her a job and residence at her chocolaterie, arguing that if she leaves the town, she'll never stop running. Under her guidance, Josephine transforms, becoming more stubborn, self-confident and charming.
  • Paul-Marie Muscat married Josephine so that he could use her as his personal servant. He beats her often and he drinks too much. Under his father's guidance he developed a cruel personality that, coupled with his need for vengeance, made him incinerate Roux's boat.
  • Armande Voizin, the mother of Caroline Clairmont, is a witch, by her own account, and she is the first to anticipate the changes Vianne's arrival would bring. She believes Vianne is also a witch, though Vianne doesn't agree with the word. They become friends, due to a similarity in personalities and the freedom of spirit they both share. Vianne helps Armande reconnect with her grandson, Luc, and Armande helps Vianne after one of Reynaud's strong sermons. She has a secret love of underwear and the poetry of Rimbaud. It is revealed that when she was a very good climber, she would often throw things at passers-by from the trees. She has a strong disdain for Reynaud and some of the villagers that follow him blindly, who she calls 'bible groupies'.
  • Caroline Clairmont is one of the aforementioned 'bible groupies' and doesn't have a good relationship with her mother, the result of which was banning Luc from ever seeing his grandmother again. She is superficial and spiteful, and she fusses too much over Armande, a fact which the latter hates. She's quick to point out everyone else's mistakes but not her own and rarely does anything without expecting something in return.
  • Luc Clairmont is Caroline Clairmont son, whom she raised with obsessive care, because of his father's death. Luc has a penchant for the dark and bizarre which he's been hiding for fear of upsetting his mother.
  • Guillaume
  • Narcisse
  • Roux is the nickname of a red-haired gypsy, who, along with others, docks near Lansquennet, to the chagrin of Reynaud and other villagers. As a sort of 'ambassador' of the 'river-people' he gets to know Armande, and then Vianne and Anouk, whom he takes to immediately. He has a strong sense of independence and is not one to trust easily, but would go to great lengths for people he cares about.
  • Zezette & Blanche
  • Samson Fay
  • Tengo Sukat

Reception

Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint
Charles de Lint is a Canadian fantasy author and folk musician. He is also the chief book critic for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction....

 praised the novel, saying "Harris's prose is an absolute delight.", He compared Chocolat to Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate is a popular novel published in 1989 by first-time Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel.The novel follows the story of a young girl named Tita who longs her entire life to marry her lover, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother's upholding of the family tradition...

"but with a European rather than a Latin flavor."

Film adaptation

The novel was adapted for film in 2000, directed by Lasse Hallstrom
Lasse Hallström
Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström is a Swedish film director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for My Life as a Dog and later for The Cider House Rules .-Life and career:...

 and starring Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...

, Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...

, Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...

, Lena Olin
Lena Olin
Lena Maria Jonna Olin is a Swedish actress.-Early life:Olin was born the youngest of three children, in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the daughter of actress Britta Holmberg and the director Stig Olin...

 and Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...

.

Release details

  • 1999, UK, Doubleday (ISBN 0-385-41064-6), Pub date 4 March 1999, hardback (First edition)
  • 2000, UK, Black Swan (ISBN 0-552-99848-6), Pub date 2 March 2000, paperback
  • 1999, USA, Viking Adult (ISBN 0-670-88179-1), Pub date February 1999, hardback
  • 2000, USA, Penguin Books (ISBN 0-14-028203-3), Pub date January 2000, paperback
  • 2000, USA, Penguin Books (ISBN 0-14-100018-X), Pub date November 2000, paperback (film tie-in edition)
  • 2000, Australia, Black Swan (ISN 0-552-99893-1), Pub date 2000, paperback (film tie-in edition)

Sequel

A sequel to Chocolat titled The Lollipop Shoes
The Lollipop Shoes
The Lollipop Shoes is a 2007 novel by Joanne Harris and is a sequel to the best-selling Chocolat. It tells the story of both Vianne Rocher, a chocolatier with two children, and that of Zozie de l'Alba, a 'collecter' of identities....

, was published in 2007

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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