Joanne Harris’ 1999 novel, CHOCOLAT, won over millions of readers worldwide and became an Oscar-nominated film the following year starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. Now, 26 years later, Harris revisits the book’s protagonist, the young French woman we know as Vianne, in this highly anticipated prequel.

On the Fourth of July in New York City, we see a pregnant Vianne scattering the ashes of her recently deceased mother prior to being called back to her homeland of France. She randomly decides to head to the coastal city of Marseille, where she knows no one and has no idea what her next move is.

The name on Vianne’s passport reads Sylviane Rochas, and she carries with her a few meager possessions that includes her mother’s tarot cards. She is accustomed to life on the road as she was often running from something with her mother, who was always in some kind of trouble and warned her of the threat of a Man in Black who allegedly pursued them. She ends up at a small bistro in Marseille, La Bonne Mere, which is owned by a man who had lost his wife and child some years earlier. Vianne arranges a deal with Louis Martin to work as a cook in his kitchen in exchange for room and board. She begins to learn from the book of recipes left behind by his late wife, Margot.

"VIANNE is an incredibly moving and unforgettable novel that is the perfect companion to CHOCOLAT. Not only does it return readers to Vianne’s life, it provides the background we so longed to know and understand about her."

Vianne starts with a classic bouillabaisse, and all the diners enjoy it. Her relationship with food officially has begun and will change the course of her life going forward. A random meeting with two young men in town, Guy and Mahmed, will be one that readers will swoon over as they are preparing to open a small shop on the other side of town that primarily sells chocolate. Even though Louis never made any moves towards Vianne in a romantic way, he does talk about becoming officially responsible for her and her unborn child, which kind of scares her off. She makes the final recipe in Margot’s book and leaves Marseille with no concrete plans.

Vianne had run into a priest from Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, a small village not found on any map that readers will remember from CHOCOLAT, and she initially heads in that direction. But she never says goodbye to Louis; she just leaves him a brief note. Her first stop is the city of Toulouse, where once again she finds herself alone and homeless. She befriends another resident of the streets,  Stéphane, who lives there with his pet cat. Ironically, she runs into Guy, who insists that she come back with him to Marseille where he will employ her at his chocolate shop. Stéphane comes along as well, so Vianne returns to the town she just abandoned and begins her career as a chocolate maker.

Vianne soon realizes why she is drawn to Marseille and Louis, who is still stinging from her departure, when she learns something about his son. What she does about this discovery, along with her new job, drives the second half of the novel.

In one of the book’s most significant passages, a woman from Marseille claims to have known Vianne’s mother and knows more about her than would seem possible. Khamaseen lets the often-unsure Vianne know that she is like her --- an outsider who is different from the rest, someone with the shine. She also makes Vianne feel that this is all right. She has nothing to fear and just needs to believe in herself and the future she is about to have with her daughter.

VIANNE is an incredibly moving and unforgettable novel that is the perfect companion to CHOCOLAT. Not only does it return readers to Vianne’s life, it provides the background we so longed to know and understand about her.