Vianne

Secrets.
Chocolate.
A touch of magic...

On a warm July evening, Sylviane Rochas scatters her mother's ashes in New York and lets the changing wind blow her to the French seaside town of Marseille.

For the first time in her life, Vianne holds the future in her own hands. Charming her way into a job as a waitress in a local bistrot, she knows that she is not here to stay - when her child is born in a few months, she must be gone.

As she discovers the joy of cooking, making recipes her own with the addition of bittersweet chocolate spices, she realises that it possesses its own magic in this town full of secrets.

Yet Vianne will never forget her mother's warning: that there is danger in revealing the true desires of those around her - and she must flee these cobbled streets before it's too late...


Million-copy bestselling author Joanne Harris returns to the world of Chocolat with the long-awaited story of Vianne, which begins six years before she opens her scandalous chocolaterie in the small French village of Lansquenet.

Review

So wise, so atmospheric, so beautifully written ― Marian Keyes

I sobbed at the end because I couldn't bear to leave...One of the world's finest storytellers ― Joanna Cannon

Haunting, obsessive and just a little nutty, like a freshly-made praline ― Elisabeth Luard

Mouthwatering...your senses are left reeling ― Observer

Sheer pleasure from start to finish ― James Runcie

Sensuous and thought-provoking ― Daily Telegraph

I devoured it in one go ― Christopher Fowler

A place of magic and mysteries ― Monica Ali

A novel that shimmers with brilliance and truth ― Kate Williams

Is this the best book ever written? Truly excellent ― Literary Review

About the Author

JOANNE HARRIS is an Anglo-French author, whose books include twenty novels, three cookbooks, and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology, and fantasy. In 2000, her 1999 novel Chocolat was adapted to the screen, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an honorary fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and in 2022 was awarded an OBE by the Queen.