Chocolat (literature)

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Chocolat, published in 1999, is the first book in a series by author Joanne Harris, centered around Vianne Rocher and her family.

When Chocolat starts, in the town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, propriety reigns. Father Francis de Reynaud maintains a tight grip on his people, believing they are sheep in need of his guidance. Then a single mother and her six-year old enter down a few days before Lent, fix up an old bakery as a chocolaterie, and start selling magical wares to the customers. Reynaud realizes this is the threat that will lead to a liberated town. Well, that cannot do. Vianne won't let a little bit of strictness tear her down.

Chocolat was adapted into a film in 2001. The subsequent books in the series are The Lollipop Shoes (2007, published in the United States in 2008 under the title The Girl With No Shadow), Peaches for Father Francis (2012), and The Strawberry Thief (2019). Blackberry Wine is a companion novel set in the same town.

Tropes used in Chocolat (literature) include:

Adult Fear: There is a bit to go with the fantastic moments in the books:
- Chocolat
  - Vianne admits that she knows Anouk is growing up too fast, going from an innocent child to a little cynic. She's terrified of what will happen the day that Anouk decides to turn her back on her mother and face the world alone. The Girl With No Shadow shows the moment this happens, as Anouk resents that her mother gave up magic to find a normal life.
  - Father Reynaud turns a blind eye to both Josephine's compulsive shoplifting and Paul-Marie's frequent abuse of her. He maintains that due to the sanctity of the confession, he can't do more than order them to do penance via Aves. Armande has to call him out for being a useless bystander when Josephine's attempts to get her things from the Muscat resident leads to Paul-Marie chasing her down and attempting to murder her.
  - The otherwise vapid and bitchy Caroline Clairmont, in one of her less-abrasive moments, reveals that her fear about her mother Armande's diabetes becoming terminal is very real. She and Armande had a falling out, and Armande can't even remember why but Caro is worried about the fact that her mother lives in a mansion alone, with only cats for company, insulin ampoules in the fridge, and failing eyesight.
- The Girl With No Shadow
  - Zozie is revealed to be an accomplished con artist. She studies people, worms her way into their lives, and kills them after stealing their identities. Her first victim was her mother, who wanted to take her to a doctor after Zozie poisoned her bullies at a dance and claimed it was an accident. Even worse, Zozie laments that she lacks a challenge and is fascinated when Vianne under the name Yanne Charbonneau isn't willing to give up her life.
  - Rosette has cri du chat syndrome, which is basically an incurable genetic condition. She can communicate via sign language and do magic, but Vianne notes that she was a difficult baby and stubborn as an older child; even if she could talk like most kids her age, Thierry's forceful ways encourage her to clam up and cause chaos. Not helping is that the Kindly Ones, a priest and social worker, tracked down Vianne when she refused to have Rosette baptized, and attempted to take away her and Anouk on a day when Vianne was away from their flat, while Vianne was searching for a job.
  - A reveal that is shocking and hinted at towards the end of Book One, finally confirmed here: Jeanne Rocher is not Vianne's mother. In fact, the two aren't even related; Vianne was Sylviane Caillou, an infant who belonged to one of Jeanne's neighbors Michele. According to newspaper clippings that Vianne finds among her mother's things, Sylviane was stolen from Michele's car when the latter was picking up medicine at a drugstore, along with her car seat and some toys. Michele realizes who Vianne is when she hears Thierry use the last name "Rocher" and he mistakes Zozie for Vianne because Jeanne was her neighbor who vanished suddenly and she always had an inkling of suspicion about who stole her baby.
Big Sister Instinct: In The Girl With No Shadow, Anouk has never retaliated against her bullies, in an attempt to follow her mother's advice. Zozie convinces her to be more confident at school and not accept being their victim, and fight back occasionally. The moment that she snaps with when Suzette's Girl Posse surround her and call Rosette a "retard"; Anouk gets so angry that she curses them all with ringworm, and they're out of school for a few days. Their hair had to be shaved, along with some of their dignity.
Both Sides Have a Point: The crux of why Anouk and Vianne start drifting apart during The Girl With No Shadow. Vianne decided to give up magic and their nomadic ways; her reasoning is that it's not a stable life for a child, let alone two, and it feels like the wind was just pulling them from place to place with no destination or plan. Besides this, the Kindly Ones were tracking her down, forcing them to move constantly. Anouk's resentment is that she knows the life of being drab Parisian native suits neither her nor her mother, Vianne lies to her that the magic wasn't real but just a game, and she doesn't want to be normal. Even if Anouk did, the girls at school can tell that she's different.
Jerkass: Caroline Clairmont is someone who gets the least amount of redemption in the series. When Vianne inspires Francis de Reynaud to turn a new leaf indirectly, Caro takes advantage of the power vacuum to benefit herself.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- While Caro Clairmont is overstepping her bounds with her mother, Armande eventually admits that Caro's concern is legitimate. Armande has developed diabetic retinopathy, which is too far along to reverse. Once she loses her sight, she'll either have to live with her daughter's family or check into the nearest nursing home, nicknamed Le Mortoir. There is the third option, but Armande knows that Caro would never go for it. Vianne notes that Armande hates the sugar-free lemonade and chamomile tea that Caro brings, but she drinks it and serves it anyway when hosting company.
- Thierry is not a nice guy, as Vianne's landlord and eventually unwilling fiance, but he is not wrong to call her out when learning that Yanne Charbonneau was just another identity for her. He asks why didn't she tell him the truth about her life, and be honest with him.
Properly Paranoid: Jean-Loup can sense that something is off with Zozie, trying to warn Anouk and ends up not eating the chocolate that she gifts him, on the house. Good thing too, because that chocolate was cursed.
Really Gets Around: Implied when Anouk asks Vianne about her father in The Girl With No Shadow if he was a black man because one of her bullies at school said her curly hair may mean Anouk's biracial. Vianne considers it but admits that she's not sure. After Jeanne Rocher died, Vianne went on many romantic dalliances to deal with her grief. Any of them could be Anouk's father.
Serious Business: Reynaud considers it a moral affront when Vianne opens a chocolate shop across the street from church, on the first day of Lent. Vianne doesn't think it's a big deal, but fears he may be the Black Man from her cards.
Slut Shaming: Caro Clairmont tries to do this when Reynaud declares war on the chocolate shop, as well as Vianne. Vianne revealed that she never married. While she doesn't care, and Anouk comes to realize that she doesn't either, it is definitely low of Caro, who also shames Josephine Muscat for not having children.
Villain Has A Point: Part of the reason that Zozie is able to win Anouk over with her rebellious ways and confidence is that she's right that bullies in school won't leave you alone if you try to avoid them. Anouk has tried, but Suzette alienates her from making new friends or playing by herself. After a point, you need to either counterattack or stand your ground. While Zozie's methods are extreme, and Anouk comes to realize that she doesn't want to be that person, they end up working; Anouk cursing her bullies with ringworm breaks their power over her, and she's able to make friends with Jean-Loup.
Villain Protagonist: Zozie starts the novel The Girl With No Shadow, as someone who freely searches the cities for cons and identities to steal. While it seems that Vianne's desperation and Anouk's innocent nature may convince Zozie to turn a new life, she makes it clear to the reader that any acts of kindness towards them are part of her plan to start with stealing Vianne's identity, and maybe get a bit of money out of the bargain.
What You Are in the Dark:
- Armande knows that Reynaud has a dark secret. Rather than tell anyone and ruin his livelihood, she uses it as blackmail material so he leaves her alone. Even Vianne can't pry the answer from her, though Armande finds it hilarious and hints at it.
- What Reynaud's dark secret is: the last time that Romani came to the town, he set one of their boats on fire in an attempt to scare them away. He swears he didn't know that there were two people sleeping on it, who burned alive. The priest of his time convinced him to keep it a secret, and told him he had no reason to feel guilty.
Your Cheating Heart: Among the many things that caused Reynaud's Start of Darkness as a teen, he recalls that one day he walked in on his mother sleeping with the local priest, the one whom he saw as a confidante. Shortly after, his parents sent him to a boarding school to pursue theology and the priest suffered several strokes, refusing to talk to Francis when he was able to speak.