chocolat by Joanne Harris

When I saw the movie I thought what a romance picture. After reading the book, romance is not the word(s) that describes this intriguing, complicated, fantasy. Vianne Rocher and her daughter arrive during a carnival in the small hamlet of Lansquenet on the eve of Lent. Determined to find a place to settle down, she opens a small shoppe specializing in chocolate. The priest of the church across the road sees Vianne as a witch tempting his parishioners and the villagers, influencing them to disregard the seriousness of, in his opinion, the celebration of Easter. The priest has secrets of his own, but the reader only catches glimpses of them as he confers with a bed-ridden priest who is in a coma. As they say, the truth will out. Fascinating. Sandy Penton.