A vivid and passionate love story from the Booker Shortlisted author

When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer's wares as instruments of murder.

When the women in the Sparrow family reach 13, they develop a unique ability. In Stella's case, the gift is the ability to see a person's probable future. When Stella foresees a gruesome murder, she tells her father, but it is too late. The murder has already been committed and suspicion falls on him.

Mildred Lathbury is one of those 'excellent women' who is often taken for granted. She is a godsend, 'capable of dealing with most of the stock situations of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sales, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather'.