When Joanne Harris wrote Chocolat, her novel of morality and magic set in a cloistered French village, she did not expect it to be published, let alone succeed. Her agent thought that it was “very unfashionable writing” and “wasn’t at all the kind of thing he felt would be commercial”. Now, 25 years later, after more than 1m sales and an Oscar-nominated film adaptation starring Johnny Depp, Harris is writing a prequel.
In the original novel, protagonist Vianne sets up a chocolaterie – selling champagne truffles, oyster-shaped pralines, chocolate-coated pains d’épice – at the beginning of Lent, drawing the ire of the town’s priest, who fasts and sees chocolate as sinful indulgence. In the prequel, due to be published in March 2025, readers can expect to learn more about “how Vianne becomes Vianne”, says Harris.
