It tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young single mother, who arrives in the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes at the beginning of Lent with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk.

As Easter approaches the ritual of the Church is pitted against the indulgence of chocolate, and Father Reynaud and Vianne Rocher face an inevitable showdown.

The village priest, Francis Reynaud, is mystified by their arrival because Lent has just begun, but his confusion turns rapidly to anger when he understands that Vianne holds dangerous beliefs, does not obey the church and flouts the unspoken rules that he feels should govern his "flock".

When her mother dies of terminal cancer, Vianne continues on her own, trying to evade the Black Man and the mysterious force of the wind and settle down to a normal life.

She starts to build a group of regular customers, including Armande, Guillaume and Narcisse, and, to Reynaud's dismay, she doesn't go out of business.

Reynaud manages to convince most businesses in the village to deny the gypsies their service, although Vianne welcomes them and befriends some members of the group, namely Roux, Zezette and Blanche.

Vianne also spends a lot of time and effort preparing for the "Grand Festival of Chocolate", to be held on Easter Sunday, with the help of Josephine, who moves in with her after being convinced to leave her abusive husband.

The morning the festival is supposed to take place, Reynaud breaks into the shop and vandalizes the window display, but is caught by Vianne before he can reach the gift boxes in the basement.

Charles de Lint praised the novel, saying "Harris's prose is an absolute delight", and comparing Chocolat to Like Water for Chocolate,[11] although Kirkus Reviews described it as "cloying.

There seems to be evidence to suggest that Lansquenet-sous-Tannes was based on the town of Nérac, on the river Baïse, where Harris spent some of her childhood holidays, and which is very close to a tiny village called Vianne.

Similarly in Peaches for Monsieur le Curé, the presence of a community of Moroccan immigrants, with their new customs and different religious beliefs, causes friction.

[13][14] The film adaptation was released in 2000, directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Alfred Molina, Lena Olin and Johnny Depp.