- Audio Cassette
- Publisher: Durkin Hayes Pub Ltd; Unabridged edition (December 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1553586077
- ISBN-13: 978-1553586074
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Vianne Rocher and her 6-year-old daughter, Anouk, arrive in the small village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes--"a blip on the fast road between Toulouse and Bourdeaux"--in February, during the carnival. Three days later, Vianne opens a luxuriant chocolate shop crammed with the most tempting of confections and offering a mouth-watering variety of hot chocolate drinks. It's Lent, the shop is opposite the church and open on Sundays, and Francis Reynaud, the austere parish priest, is livid.
One by one the locals succumb to Vianne's concoctions. Joanne Harris weaves their secrets and troubles, their loves and desires, into her third novel, with the lightest touch. There's sad, polite Guillame and his dying dog; thieving, beaten-up Joséphine Muscat; schoolchildren who declare it "hypercool" when Vianne says they can help eat the window display--a gingerbread house complete with witch. And there's Armande, still vigorous in her 80s, who can see Anouk's "imaginary" rabbit, Pantoufle, and recognizes Vianne for who she really is. However, certain villagers--including Armande's snobby daughter and Joséphine's violent husband--side with Reynaud. So when Vianne announces a Grand Festival of Chocolate commencing Easter Sunday, it's all-out war: war between church and chocolate, between good and evil, between love and dogma.
Reminiscent of Herman Hesse's short story "Augustus," Chocolat is an utterly delicious novel, coated in the gentlest of magic, which proves--indisputably and without preaching--that soft centers are best. --Lisa Gee, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
The battle lines between church and chocolate are drawn by this British (and part French) author in her appealing debut about a bewitching confectioner who settles in a sleepy French village and arouses the appetites of the pleasure-starved parishioners. Young widow Vianne Roche's mouthwatering bonbons, steaming mugs of liqueur-laced cocoa and flaky cream-filled patisserie don't earn her a warm welcome from the stern prelate of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. In Francis Reynaud's zeal to enforce strict Lenten vows of self-denial, he regards his sybaritic neighbor with suspicion and disdain. Undaunted, Vianne garners support from the town's eccentrics, chiefly Armande Voizin, the oldest living resident, a self-professed sorceress who senses in Vianne a kindred spirit. A fun-loving band of river gypsies arrives, and a colorful pageant unfurls. The novel's diary form?counting down the days of Lent until Easter?is suspenseful, and Harris takes her time unreeling the skein of evil that will prove to be Reynaud's undoing. As a witch's daughter who inherited her mother's profound distrust of the clergy, Vianne never quite comes to life, but her child, Anouk, is an adorable sprite, a spunky six-year-old already wise to the ways of an often inhospitable world. Gourmand Harris's tale of sin and guilt embodies a fond familiarity with things French that will doubtless prove irresistible to many readers. Rights sold in the U.K., Germany, Canada, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Brazil, Israel, Norway, Greece, the Czech Republic, Poland.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Chocolat Review,
By Jenny Godwin (Portland, CT USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chocolat (Tie-In) (Paperback)
I thought the book Chocolat was great and I enjoyed reading it. It was definitely a change of pace from all other books I have read in school which made it that much more enjoyable. I think that it was a good decision for Joanne Harris to have the book set up in journal entries by both Vianne and Reynaud because it allowed us to see both of their points of view instead of only one perspective throughout the entire novel.I thought the details in the book were amazing especially about the chocolates because most of the time I could almost taste the chocolates in my mouth as I was reading it. Vianne Rocher was a very admirable character in this novel. She demonstrated the strengths of a woman and the courage to stand up against a society for your beliefs. She remained strong even when she became pregnant and when Roux left her for Josephine. I think that she was portrayed very well in the novel.
4.0 out of 5 stars
chocolat review,
By Julie (haddam, CT USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chocolat (Tie-In) (Paperback)
Chocolat by Joanne Harris can be depicted as an inspirational novel. Vianne Rocher, the main character, is a unique woman who will not conform to the ways of society. This is an amazing story that relates to happiness, sorrow and romance. Harris reflects Vianne as a woman worthy of praise. Vianne easily disregards the opinions of society. She is deeply rooted in her own morals and beliefs. The author captures the spirit of the characters as well as fulfilling the beauty and magic of the town. She also provides vivid descriptions and images of the townspeople and their reactions to Vianne and her daughter Anouk. However nothing compares to the images the author provides when Vianne is brewing up her famous chocolate recipes. My favorite scene was the arrival Roux. I knew something special was going to happen between him and Vianne. Joanne Harris is more than capable of grabbing the reader's attention, in fact she is able to leave their emotions rising and falling with every turn of the page.
5.0 out of 5 stars
delicious,
By "mgmidget66" (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chocolat (Tie-In) (Paperback)
Wow- this was a quick read. Considering I'm a mother with two young children and never get a chance to see a movie. So low and behold I pick up the novel and boy was I happy. I began reading the book on Ash Wednesday and was completed on on the first Friday lent. Also coming from a very strict religious family during lent and its odd sacrifices that we must endure through this book really made me smile through out. A must read for all who need a realistic novel that any one who went to church can relate too.
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