Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… in a French village still bound up in its own rigid traditions. A free spirit, Vianne isn’t used to life in such a small, archaic community, and she finds its old rituals constraining. As she sighs to her daughter, Anouk, “It’s not easy being different." Still, Vianne doesn't let her status as an outsider get her too down, refusing to be dissuaded from her dreams by her neighbors' disapproved.
Profession… expert chocolatier. Vianne has taken her talents all over Europe, but she’s finally decided to set up a permanent chocolaterie in her new village. Unfortunately, she’s decided to set up shop at the beginning of Lent – a time of restraint and self-discipline.
Interests… chocolate, of course. Vianne believes that it has the power to excite people and ignite their passions.
Relationship Status… developing a romance with Roux, a fellow free spirit and gypsy. However, like Roux, Vianne is used to traveling, and has never developed ties to a specific place or person.
Challenge… finding a place for herself and helping her fellow villagers enjoy life. Vianne wants nothing more than to make people happy. But she’s finding it hard to show her fellow villagers the joys of chocolate when the mayor, draconian mayor Comte Paul de Reynaud, seems to view her as a personal enemy.
Personality… vivacious and energetic. Vianne, who doesn’t go to church regularly and has a child out of wedlock, feels different from the pious villagers. Despite this, she doggedly persists, knowing that chocolate and pleasure have a way of bringing wonder to those who have none.
Get to Know her in...
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The history of the clown Chocolate, the first black circus artist in France, which has a great success in the late 19th century.
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Even before it was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, Joanne Harris' New York Times bestselling novel Chocolat entranced readers with its mix of hedonism, whimsy, and, of course, chocolate.
In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival. Chocolat's every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere. It's a must for anyone who craves an escapist read, and is a bewitching gift for any holiday.
