Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Totally Booked with Zibby
Host: Zibby Owens
Guest: Joanne Harris, author of Vianne: A Novel
Date: September 11, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Zibby Owens sits down with acclaimed author Joanne Harris to discuss her latest novel, Vianne, a prequel to the international bestseller Chocolat. The conversation delves into themes of grief, transformation, memory, the magic of chocolate, and the creative process. Harris shares personal insights on writing, neurodiversity, and finding one’s authentic voice—anchored throughout with the sensual, evocative language that characterizes her books.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introducing Vianne and Its Connection to Chocolat

[04:08]

• Joanne Harris explains that Vianne is an origin story, set six years before Chocolat and detailing how the character Fian (Vianne) Rocher becomes who she is.
• The novel explores Vianne's early years: freshly grieving her mother's death, alone, newly pregnant in Marseille, homeless, and not yet called “Vianne.”
• Quote: “This is in many ways the book to start with if you're new to Fian Rocher and her story, because it precedes Chocolat by 6 years and it is Fian's origin story.” — Joanne Harris [04:33]

The Many Faces of Grief

[05:36]

• Harris writes beautifully about grief—not just Vianne’s, but also the grief harbored by Louis, the bistro owner, who lost his wife 20 years prior.
• Quote: “Grief is love with nowhere to go. That's what my mother used to say. And there is love inside him. It's like a seam of something bright between two layers of bitter rock. But he has learned to live with his grief. At least it is familiar. Love, on the other hand, is not love and its dangerous sibling, hope.” — Joanne Harris, as read by Zibby Owens [05:57]
• Harris tapped into her own experience of losing her father while writing the book, aiming to show how loss shapes understanding and connection.

Memory, Presence, and the Voices of the Lost

[08:10]

• Discussions explore how memory and cooking keep the dead alive, with Margaux’s recipe book serving as a voice in Louis and Vianne's paths.
• Both Vianne’s mother and Louis’s wife influence Vianne, each imparting different messages about attachment and freedom.
• Quote: “Memory, at least, helps to bring the dead to life in one way or the other.” — Joanne Harris [08:10]

Community, Acceptance, and Chocolate As Magic

[10:29]

• Vianne carves a space in a community of grumpy old men at a Marseille bistro through food and empathy, transforming their lives and her own.
• She befriends two young chocolatiers, Gila and Mehmed, discovering the transformative, almost mystical power of chocolate.
• Joanne highlights the role of food and chocolate as simple yet profound connectors.
• Quote: “She is not accepted at first. She is an outsider. She is possibly ethnically different. Nobody quite knows where she's from, including Vian herself. But she's very good at making connections and finding the things that bring them together.” — Joanne Harris [10:29]

Chocolate: Real, Imitation, and Cultural Significance

[13:04]

• Harris contrasts artisan chocolate and “imitation” mass-produced versions, lamenting what’s lost through globalization and commercialization.
• Quote: “Chocolate has been so very successful globally...and has mostly palm oil in it now and, and has very much lost contact with what it used to be ...this special, strange, bitter substance...valued not just for its effect on the body, but also for its spiritual side too.” — Joanne Harris [13:04]
• Zibby and Harris discuss chocolate’s folklore and its ability to polarize—some see it as indulgence, others as a near-dangerous temptation.
• Quote: “It started in Europe as a very niche substance... and it gained traction and became a massive industry. It's now one of the driving industries in the world...People still... divided into people who accept chocolate and people who for some reason think that it will do terrible things to their bodies if they have even the tiniest bit of it.” — Joanne Harris [13:43]

Roots vs. Routes: The Struggle between Attachment and Freedom

[20:03]

• Harris employs wordplay (roots/routes) to represent Vianne’s internal conflict: to settle down (put down roots) or keep moving (follow new routes).
• Quote: “The idea that they have to be free from attachment and from place has always been very important to Jan's mother. But now, if Jan is going to be a mother, she is trying to go a different way for her own child.” — Joanne Harris [20:24]

The “Man in the Black Coat”: Fear, Secrets, and Pursuit

[21:37]

• The mysterious “man in the black coat” symbolizes the many fears haunting Vianne’s mother: fear of being found out, of losing her daughter, and of settling down.
• He’s part threat, part metaphor—sometimes authority, sometimes fate.

Writing Food, Synesthesia, and Finding One’s Voice

[22:42]

• Harris is self-taught and only committed to full-time writing after Chocolat, the first book that felt entirely in her own voice following her experiences of motherhood.
• Sensory immersion is crucial: Harris, who experiences synesthesia (smelling colors), channels her unique experiences into rich, multisensory prose.
• Quote: “Books should be as immersive as possible and would involve, ideally, as many senses as possible. ... I have synesthesia and I smell colors. ... This is my primary access to the world.” — Joanne Harris [23:22–24:24]
• She didn’t realize not everyone had synesthesia until her 30s.

The Writing Life and Advice for Writers

[26:36]

• Harris stresses: discard the word “aspiring”—anyone who wants to write is a writer.
• Quote: “Anyone who wants to write should write, should give themselves permission to write... Not everybody needs to be a professional to enjoy writing and to get joy from writing. And I think joy is really at the heart of this.” — Joanne Harris [26:36]

Current Reads and Cooking in Real Life

[27:10]

• Currently reading: short stories by Sunny Singh, focused on war and its victims.
• Confesses she’s “very good at assembling things” for dinner, doesn’t cook like her fictional characters do.
• Quote: “If it takes longer than 30 minutes to make it, I am not interested in making it right now.” — Joanne Harris [27:36]

Immersion, Scent, and Events

[28:40]

• Harris mentions accompanying her book tour with a bespoke scent inspired by Vianne, hoping to add a new sensory dimension to her readings and signings.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Grief:
  “Grief is love with nowhere to go. That's what my mother used to say.” — Joanne Harris, as read by Zibby Owens [05:57]
• On Chocolate’s Power:
  “I wanted to get back to that, some of the story and the folklore of chocolate and the mythology and the endless history of choc to try to get to the bottom of why chocolate is different from anything else that you can eat.” — Joanne Harris [13:04]
• On Food and Connection:
  “Food is possibly the simplest way of connecting with somebody and expressing feelings towards them.” — Joanne Harris [10:29]
• On Writing and Joy:
  “Anyone who wants to write should write, should give themselves permission to write... And I think joy is really at the heart of this.” — Joanne Harris [26:36]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:08] Overview of Vianne and connection to Chocolat
• [05:36] Depicting and understanding grief
• [08:10] Memory, food, and the voices of the dead
• [10:29] Community, acceptance, and chocolate’s magic
• [13:04] Real vs. imitation chocolate and globalization
• [20:03] Roots vs. routes—themes of belonging and freedom
• [21:37] The man in the black coat: Symbolizing fear and secrets
• [22:42] Harris on becoming a writer and describing food
• [24:24] Synesthesia and its impact on her writing
• [26:36] Advice to writers: Embrace joy, discard “aspiring”
• [27:10] Current reads and real-life cooking
• [28:40] Creating immersive book experiences with scent

Episode Tone & Language

The tone of the episode is warm, deeply reflective, and rich with sensory detail. Both Zibby and Joanne speak thoughtfully, with Joanne’s responses marked by literary elegance, a gentle wit, and personal honesty. The conversation mixes literary analysis, personal anecdote, and creative philosophy, making it engaging for both fans of Harris’s work and aspiring writers.

For more, follow Zibby Owens at @zibbyowens or visit zibbymedia.com. To experience the world of Vianne, pick up the book and, if possible, attend one of Joanne Harris’s immersive, multi-sensory book tour events.