Latest in the Series--Revisiting Chocolat

 By Theresa Gauthier

The Strawberry Thief by Joanne Harris

One of my all time favorite authors, Joanne Harris, has a long list of successful novels, but perhaps her most well-known is Chocolat, which was made into a movie in 2000 starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, and Alfred Molina. Some people may not realize that Chocolat, the book, is, in reality, Chocolat, the Series. I’ve read them all—just finishing the final one a few days ago. The titles in the series are:

Chocolat

The Girl with No Shadow (AKA The Lollipop Shoes)

Peaches for Father Francis (AKA Peaches for Monsieur le Curé)

The Strawberry Thief

The story of Vianne Roche does go on well past the end of the popular film, and I’d recommend a deep dive into any you haven’t read. I was going to add that the first book was my favorite, but in retrospect, I’m not sure that’s true.

Chocolat introduced us to this world, this little town in France that needed a Chocolaterie more than the townspeople could have imagined. Vianne’s arrival set a lot of things in motion, and the characters she touched embraced life as they never had before. It’s easy to lose yourself in the pages and even though you might envision it ending in a particular way, once you’ve read the entire thing, you realize it couldn’t have ended any other way. 

In The Girl with No Shadow Vianne has moved her small family to Paris leaving the town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes behind. Adopting a new identity that of widow, Yanne Charboneau, Vianne’s Paris Chocolaterie attracts a mysterious stranger who has secrets—and plans—of her own. Once I got over the fact that Vianne had taken her kids out of the charming town of the first book, I was hooked in this story as well. Beautifully written, it’s a twist to see a new character challenging Vianne much as she’d challenged characters in  Chocolat.

The third book in the series, Peaches for Monsieur le Curé, finds Vianne returning to Lansquenet to find things changed. Immigrants have taken up residence creating a self-contained community complete with a school and a Mosque. Addressing issues of isolationism, community, discrimination—and adding Vianne’s magic and her unique relationships with the residents of the town, old and new, as well as her growing family—there’s a lot in this book to love!

The Strawberry Thief shows us a much different Vianne Rocher from the one we met in Chocolat. This one is settled. No longer chasing the wind—or letting it chase her—she lives is still in Lansquenet, runs a chocolaterie, and raises her daughter, Rosette. Her elder daughter, Anouk, will be coming home for a visit, and Vianne finds herself wondering at the fact that Anouk, who always wanted to live a life like this in Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, has instead left her mother and sister behind to live in Paris. 

Rosette, a ‘special’ child who is ‘different’ than the other kids in the small town, goes through her days in her own unique ways, not understanding why her best friend prefers the company of his girlfriend, and wishing things could be as they were. 

Of course, nothing stays the same, and Rosette finds more things changing than she could have imagined. Vianne, too, seems reluctant to embrace change though it seemed to be what she lived for back in the first book. Departures, arrivals, gossip, and secrets that come to light all alter Rosette’s and Vianne’s world—but can they accept the changes?

The characters—old friends and new arrivals—bring Vianne’s and Rosette’s world to life. I couldn’t help but think of characters from the other books, and enjoying the speculation each familiar character inspired as I tried to piece together what might happen. 

Vianne’s reluctance to accept a newcomer to town is a surprise even to herself. She admits to have grown less-free spirited than she once was, and wonders at that even as she hopes she can stifle any more change.

Seeing Vianne and the other characters through Rosette’s eyes makes the revelations more dramatic. Rosette’s calm acceptance of magic in her life, of the changes the wind might bring, of the Accidents her mother wants her to avoid, and the difficulties every one has making friends at any age shines a light on the hope we all cling to that things will stay the way we want them to be. No matter how we hope, however, some things are out of our control, and some things only seemed like we had any control. 

Delightful, delicious, and inspiring me to go back to its predecessors, The Strawberry Thief is a brilliant addition to the series.