A NEW LEAF BOOKSHOP WELCOMES JOANNE HARRIS AND A FILM CREW FROM BBC’S ‘ONE SHOW’
Regular customers at ‘A New Leaf Bookshop Shop’ enjoyed a unique book group experience when acclaimed author, Joanne Harris, joined them to discuss her latest novel, ‘Vianne.’ The event was captured on film by a crew from the BBC’s ‘One Show’ and, book club members were able to relive the incredibly special moment when the feature on Joanne Harris was screened on the programme on Tuesday 20th May.
‘Vianne,’ has already attracted a great deal of attention, even though the official launch of the novel is 22nd May. This is partly because of Joanne Harris’s popularity as an author but also because the new novel is a prequel to the hugely successful 1999 novel, ‘Chocolat’ which sold over a million copies and was adapted as a film starring Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp and Alfred Molino, just a year later.
‘Chocolat’ is the heartwarming story of Vianne Rocher who arrives in a small (fictional) French village with her six-year-old daughter, Anouk, at the beginning of Lent to open a chocolaterie which creates something of a scandal and changes the lives of the villagers in a variety of interesting ways.
After the publication of ‘Chocolat,’ Joanne was asked if she would ever think of writing a sequel but, at the time, said it sounded impossible. (She’s not keen on the word ‘sequel.’) She said there might, one day, be something else about Vianne and her daughters but she had a feeling they weren’t in the village of Lansquenet any more and she had ‘no idea where else to start looking for them.
At the time, Joanne said ‘As far as I knew Vianne was gone and until I found out where she was then any chance of a follow up was most definitely out.”
Thankfully, she ‘found’ Vianne and her two daughters living in Paris and in 2007, published ‘Lollipop Shoes.’ In 2012, ‘Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure’ saw Vianne and her daughters living on a houseboat on the River Seine, having found peace but then a letter brings change and sees her escaping the summer heat in Paris and heading back to Lansquenet. Readers encountered Vianne again in ‘The Strawberry Thief,’ published in 2019. In this novel, Vianne and her younger daughter are back, running the chocolate shop in Lansquenet and Anouk is living in Paris with her boyfriend. With ‘Vianne,’ Joanne Harris returns to the beginning of the story before Vianne sets off for France.
The BBC approached Joanne Harris with a view to filming a feature to celebrate ‘Chocolat’ which is a novel that has changed lives – not least, the author’s own – and to herald the launch of ‘Vianne.
“I was absolutely delighted when Joanne Harris suggested ‘A New Leaf Book Shop’ as one of the venues for ‘The One Show’ filming, “says Jane Taylor-Barron, the book shop’s owner. “We welcomed Joanne and the film crew to one of the book groups held at the shop and whilst the members were aware of the filming, they had no idea that Joanne Harris would actually be there, or that they could be called on to speak on camera.”
“What I love the most is that ‘Chocolat’ is not really about chocolate at all, it’s about joy, it’s about sensuality,” said Olivia, one of the regular customers at ‘A New Leaf Book Shop.’
“Despite the book being 25 years old I think a lot of the themes in the book are actually more relevant than ever,” added Gary, one of the book club members.
“Joanne’s visit to the shop was such a memorable and enjoyable experience, particularly when she produced the most delicious, home-made, chocolates that she’d made that morning with chocolatier, David Greenwood-Haigh,” continues Jane. “It was an immersive experience, listening to Joanne reading about Vianne tasting ‘real’ chocolate for the first time whilst we sampled Joanne’s hand-made chocolates.”
The success of ‘Chocolat’ changed Joanne Harris’s life because it enabled her to give up teaching and become a full-time novelist, but the novel had other, far-reaching effects. The novel was one of the influences that led Yorkshire chef, David Greenwood-Haigh, to become a chocolatier. He comments that if not for ‘Chocolat,’ he might still be focusing on savouries!
David is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, a Disciple of Escoffier and a World Master Chef with the Craft Guild of Chefs but his work with chocolate has been a catalyst for connection and change. Today, as an international chocolate consultant, he has travelled to Haiti, Togo, Ghana and other countries, where he has supported local cocoa farmers, guided bean-to-bar start-ups and co-developed ethical, delicious chocolate that tells a deeper story.
Writing ‘Chocolat’ also motivated Joanne to investigate the ‘real world’ of chocolate with visits to chocolate shops and chocolate factories where she saw chocolate being made for the first time. David also invited her to visit the chocolate growing island of Principe, off the coast of Africa, where he was involved in a project to bring chocolate making to an island which had only exported the cocoa beans previously. David taught Joanne Harris the art of chocolate making and, if the taste of the chocolates she took to the book shop are anything to go by, she certainly learned from the expert!
After the reading, chocolates and filming, book group members pre-ordered copies of ‘Vianne’ and bought a selection of Joanne’s other books, including ‘The Moonlight Market’ published in 2024 and ‘Maiden, Mother, Crone,’ a collection of three novellas published in 2023 which Joanne was happy to sign.
For those who don’t know Joanne Harris’s history, born to a French mother and English Father, Joanne studied modern and medieval languages at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge and, after a year as an accountant, trained to teach at the University of Sheffield. For 15 years, she taught modern languages, mostly at Leeds Grammar School and then went on to teach French literature at the University of Sheffield before becoming a full-time writer. She is certainly a prolific author, having produced 19 more novels since ‘Chocolat’ along with novellas, short stories, game scripts, several screen plays, three cookbooks and the libretti for two short operas. Her books are now published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and International writing awards.
Joanne’s services to literature were recognised by her MBE (2013) and OBE (2022). She is an Honorary Fellow of St Catherine’s College Cambridge and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022 as well as receiving honorary doctorates from the University of Huddersfield and the University of Sheffield
If you missed out on the opportunity to listen to an extract from ‘Vianne’ read by Joanne Harris or to ask her a question about her writing, there will be another event organised by A New Leaf Bookshop to be held at St James Church in Slaithwaite on Friday, 19th September from 6,30 pm to 8.30 pm. This promises to be a special evening of literature and music with performances by &Piano and Cinder White, along with the author talk, question and answer session and book signing. The doors will open at 6 pm and a bar will be available. Tickets are available from ‘A New Leaf Bookshop’ or from Eventbrite.
For further information on Joanne Harris, her work and upcoming events, details are listed on her website: www.joanne-harris.co.uk. For further information on David Greenwood Haigh, visit his website on www. www.coeurdexocolat.com/about-us. If you wish to order ‘Vianne’ or to purchase any of the author’s earlier works, please speak to Jane at ‘A New Leaf Bookshop.’