In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful, unmarried newcomer Vianne Rocher and her young daughter sweep into the pinched little town on a wave of gossip. On the heels of the carnival, Vianne promptly opens a chocolate shop right across the square from the church, and thus begins to wreak havoc with the town's Lenten vows. Vianne finds herself embroiled in a battle for the town's souls with the local priest. Father Reynaud, who tries to cast Vianne - with her unconventional, gypsy-like ways - as the village Jezebel. Soon she has effected a civil war in the little country town between those who prefer the cold comforts of the church and those who revel in the warm delights of chocolate.