A review by katiegilley
Chocolat by Joanne Harris

5.0

I've seen the movie probably about 5 times. I tend to watch it on days when I've called out sick and just want to curl up on the couch or in bed and be carried away. This book brought the same kind of comfort, but ten-fold. Of course, the book is slightly different than the movie in little ways. The biggest (and most interesting to me) is the way the priest is protrayed in the movie - a clumsy, awkward, and naive newbie - and the "villain" is the town mayor (or the French equivalent). This is not the case in the book. In Harris' original version there is no mayor, and the priest is the "villain." I can only assume that Hollywood made those changes to avoid controversy and I find it interesting (and a bit amusing). returnreturnIt was wonderful to get some back story on Vianne and Anouk - we learn about Vianne's mother and a slight mystery concerning the truth regarding that. And let me tell you, this past week I've craved more chocolate than ever before!returnreturnI read in some thread on LT that someone thought that the movie was set in the past, but this book surely hints that it is present day. However, I think the movie might cause us to go astray, because Guillame is smitten for the mourning widow, who lost her husband during the war. Vianne says but the war was 20 years ago, and Guillame responds with "no, the first war." Which I was thinking made the movie set in the 60s? I'm not too sure (my history and math skills are a bit sketchy).returnreturnAll in all - this is a wonderful book!