Throughout her life, Vianne has been running from the 'Black Man', a recurring motif in her mother's folklore. They were born with gifts, and used a kind of 'domestic magic' to earn their living. Her mother strove to inspire the same need for freedom in her daughter, who is more social and passive. Her mother and she were wanderers, going from one city to another.

Vianne, we learn from her personal thoughts, is a witch, though she does not use the word. The village priest, Francis Reynaud, is mystified by their arrival because Lent has just begun, but his confusion turns rapidly to anger when he understands that Vianne holds dangerous beliefs, does not obey the church and flouts the unspoken rules that he feels should govern his 'flock'. They are brought by 'the wind' during the last days of Carnival to open a chocolaterie, La Céleste Praline. Vianne Rocher, with her daughter Anouk, come to the small French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes. The Lollipop Shoes, the first sequel, was published in the United Kingdom in 2007 (released in 2008 as The Girl with No Shadow in the US) Īnd in 2012, the second sequel was published, entitled Peaches for Monsieur le Curé. Harris' strong-willed and independent great-grandmother influenced her portrayal of both Vianne and the elderly Armande. Harris has indicated that several of the characters were influenced by individuals in her life: Her daughter forms the basis for the young Anouk, including her imaginary rabbit, Pantoufle. As Easter approaches the ritual of the Church is pitted against the indulgence of chocolate, and Father Reynaud and Vianne Rocher face an inevitable showdown. As tensions run high, the community is increasingly divided. This scandalises Francis Reynaud, the village priest, and his supporters. During the traditional season of fasting and self-denial she gently changes the lives of the villagers who visit her with a combination of sympathy, subversion and a little magic. Vianne has arrived to open a chocolaterie- La Céleste Praline-which is on the square opposite the church. It tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young single mother, who arrives in the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes at the beginning of Lent with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk. Chocolat is a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris.

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