Why a Booktrail?
2000s: The village of Lansquenet, famous for Chocolat, now has wine too!
Blackberry Wine
What you need to know before your trail
Jay Mackintosh is trapped by memory in the old familiar landscape of his childhood, to which he longs to return. A bottle of home-brewed wine left to him by a long-vanished friend seems to provide the key to an old mystery. As the unusual properties of the strange brew take effect, Jay escapes to a derelict farmhouse in the French village of Lansquenet.
There, a ghost from the past waits to confront him, and the reclusive Marise – haunted, lovely and dangerous – hides a terrible secret behind her closed shutters. Between them, a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic?
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to rural France with the aroma of Chocolat in the air!
Set in fictional Lansquenet-Sous-Tannes but inspired by Nerac in Aquitaine. The village is clearly situated in the south of France in the book, close to Toulouse and that quiet and rural region that only the south of France provides. (especially west to the city of Toulouse) The fun is to find the chocolate shops and do a trail through them all!
The name of the character Vianne in the Chocolat novels is said to have been inspired by a town within the Lavardac commune and the town of Lavardac where the fictional Lansquenet is probably inspired by. The village could also be inspired by Nérac, on the river Baïse, as a little French birdie tells us that Joanne Harris spent some of her childhood holidays here and it’s also very close to a tiny village called Vianne. Could these be clues?
There is a artisanale chocolate shop here called La Cigale! and photos on the site of Joanne Harris
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Blackberry Wine
Destination: “Lansquenet-sous-Tannes” South of France, Author/guide: Joanne Harris Departure Time: 2000s
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