Chocolat by Joanne Harris

In the small French village of Lansquenet, nothing much has changed in a hundred years. Then an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, blows in on the changing wind with her young daughter, and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church. Soon the villagers cannot keep away, for Vianne can divine their most hidden desires.

But it’s the beginning of Lent, the season of abstinence, and Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock. Perhaps even a witch.

If Vianne’s chocolaterie is to survive, it will take kindness, courage and a little bit of magic…

Chocolat is Joanne Harris’s first book about Vianne Rocher, and was turned into the Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. The story of Vianne and her daughters continues in The Lollipop Shoes, Peaches for Monsieur le Cure, and The Strawberry Thief.