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.
• Jerkass: Caroline Clairmont is someone who gets the least amount of redemption in the series. When Vianne inspires Francis to turn a new leaf indirectly, Caro takes advantage of the power vacuum to benefit herself.
• 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.
• 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.