Joanne Harris

Like her ancestors, Vianne Rocher obeys the North wind, drifting across the country as it blows. In the winter of 1959, the clever wind leads her to a tranquil French village, where she and her daughter Anouk open a small chocolaterie. The store imbues both wonder and angst within the classical villagers as it opens during the forty days of Lent. Soon, Vianne's profound allure and savory confections enlivens a married couple's aphrodisia, encourages an elderly man's secret love, brings rapport with a willful diabetic, and comforts an awkward woman who longs to leave her drunk and abusive husband. Nonetheless, the devout village mayor, Comte Paul de Reynaud, sees Vianne as an immoral provocateur and quietly contests against her. The battle peaks when a band of river gypsies camp on the village outskirts and Vianne finds herself attracted to the Irish wanderer Roux whose attraction to Vianne is mutual.

The most tempting of all sweets becomes the key weapon in a battle of sensual pleasure against disciplined self-denial in this comedy. In 1959, a mysterious woman named Vianne moves with her young daughter into the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, where much of the community's activities are dominated by the local Catholic church. A few days after settling into town, Vianne opens up a confectionery shop across the street from the house of worship -- shortly after the beginning of Lent. While the townspeople are supposed to be abstaining from worldly pleasures for Lent, Vianne tempts them with unusual and delicious chocolate creations, using her expert touch to create just the right candy to break down each customer's resistance. With every passing day, more and more of Vianne's neighbours succumb to her sinfully delicious treats, but Francise Reynaud, the town's major, is not the least bit amused: he is eager to see Vianne run out of town before she leads the town into a deeper level of temptation. Vianne, however, is not to be swayed, and with the help of another new arrival in town, a handsome gypsy from Marseille named Roux, she plans a "Grand Festival of Chocolate," to be held on Easter Sunday.