The story alternates between the first person narratives of Vianne and Père Reynaud. Most chapters tell Vianne’s story, but some are told through the eyes of Reynaud, as he speaks of his fear, desires and crimes to someone only referred to as “mon père”. That’s a guarantee because I don’t even love chocolates that much, but still I had unbearable cravings.
The descriptions will make you yearn for chocolates and hot chocolate drinks. You NEED to have a ready supply of chocolates when you read this book. “I sell dreams, small comforts, sweet harmless temptations to bring down a multitude of saints crashing among the hazels and nougatines”Ī little bit of magic, good people, bad people, gypsies, little songs in French, an imaginary friend, love, loss, mystery and more chocolate drink than I could have imagined this is a fascinating book. Whether Vianne does have any supernatural powers or could perform magic, is never clarified, she denies any mention of it. He believes Vianne is some kind of a witch or sorcerer who was a threat to the Church and the people’s faith. Vianne sparks the wrath of the village priest, Father Reynaud, who thinks that opening such a shop right in front of his church, in the month of Lent, a time of fasting, is an insult, and a menace, to religion. He also doesn’t approve of Vianne because of her refusal to attend church or confession, and convinces some of his parishioners to stay away from the “evil” chocolate shop. These two turn heads and invite curiosity and hostility from the nosey townspeople. Vianne rents a bakery and transforms it into a charming chocolate shop, something unheard of in the town. They rather enjoy themselves at the festival and decide to stay.
On Mardi Gras, they stumble upon a quaint little French town, Lansquenet-sous-Tannes attracted by the beautiful festivities. Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk (and Anouk’s imaginary pet rabbit) are wanderers who have spent their lives travelling place to place, never staying at one place for too long. So along with a book review, you also get a lesson of “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. This book, in no way portrays a romance between the two main characters.
However I am glad to announce that I was proved wrong. From the cover and the name, I expected a clichéd, cheesy romance story. I started this book with no preconceived notions as I had never heard of this book or watched the movie before picking it up from the library shelf.
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