It isn't often you receive a letter from the dead.When Vianne Rocher receives a letter from beyond the grave, she allows the wind to blow her back to the village in south-west France where, eight years ago, she opened up a chocolate shop. But Lansquenet is different now: women veiled in black, the scent of spices and peppermint tea, and, on the bank of the river Tannes, facing the church: a minaret.Nor is it only the incomers from North Africa that have brought change. Father Reynaud, Vianne s erstwhile adversary, is disgraced and under threat. Could it be that Vianne is the only one who can save him now?