Chocolat: A Novel

Chocolat, by Joanne Harris 2000, by Penguin Books ISBN: 0-14-100018-x Close your eyes. Breathe deep. Inhale the "rising vapor from the melting couverture. The mingled scents of chocolate, vanilla, heated copper, and cinnamon are intoxicating, powerfully suggestive; the raw and earthy tang of the Americas, the hot and resinous perfume of the rain forest. This is how I travel now, as the Aztecs did in their sacred rituals: Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia. ... The Food of the Gods, bubbling and frothing in ceremonial goblets. The bitter elixir of life." (p. 53) "Bubbling and frothing" is an apt description of this sumptuous dessert from Joanne Harris. Part fable, part sermon, part social commentary and part farce, Chocolat is a rich read for sophisticated palates with a taste for withering wit, realistic characters, and barbed humor. Though not for the faint-hearted, this delectable dish stirs up glimpses of insolent arrogance and brash hypocrisy a la restaurateur and wife-beater Paul-Marie Muscat, narrow-minded bigotry in the pompous Caroline Clairmont, heaving hedonism in the alternately acid-tongued and mischievous old woman, Armande Voizin, and hope in the escape and blossoming of gentle Josephine Muscat. It all begins when beautiful, headstrong Vivianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk sweep into the anemic French village of Lansquenet on the heels of a carnival. Carefree and vivacious, the dark-haired Vivianne seems to enjoy tweaking the noses of the establishment, but when she opens her chocolate shop directly across the square from Pierre Reynaud's church, trouble drips over the village like chocolate under an August sun. Vivianne's knack for divining and indulging each villager's secret delight brings her to loggerheads with the strait-laced Reynaud and many of his flock. Reynaud deems the newcomer a threat to his flock and his personal enemy - a plot twist which doesn't make much sense, but indulges certain prejudices. Convinced that only a witch could or would wield such powers, Reynaud determines to disrupt the chocolate festival Vivianne plans for Easter. Vivianne gradually coaxes some monochromatic villagers into living Technicolor, courtesy of "The Food of the Gods." She enrages others by befriending a crew of river gypsies and offering work to their enigmatic leader de facto, Roux. Harris arranges characters, dialogue, and descriptions with a deft and attentive touch that's a feast for the eye and ear as well as the tongue. Aromatic, scintillating and delicious, Chocolat is generously garnished with melt-in-your-mouth wit and pathos. It should not be mistaken for an entree, but as a dessert Chocolat is near the top of the menu.

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