The 2007 sequel, The Lollipop Shoes, portrayed a changed Vianne - now wary, reserved and, while still unmarried, the mother of two girls - now living in Paris. In Peaches for Monsieur le Cure, Harris not only returns to these characters but also sends them back to the village where Rocher made her bow.

A letter from a dead friend, Armande, urges Rocher to go back to Lansquenet. 'They say that no one ever dies as long as someone remembers them,' Rocher tells us. 'Perhaps that's why Armande remains so very clearly in my mind ... that's why I couldn't refuse her, even though I wanted to, even though I'd promised myself never to go back.'

Back she goes and much in the village - the inhabitants, cobbled streets and abandoned tannery - are as before. Yet things have changed: many Moroccans have settled there - the women veiled in black behind hijabs - and built a mosque, with a minaret. And Rocher's former rival, Reynaud, is now in disgrace.

Set in the Islamic month of Ramadan in 2010 - before France introduced a ban on the wearing of the hijab - Harris' narrative instils a growing, near palpable tension, streaked with racism and intolerance.

Harris' other books have not matched the success of Chocolat. So it was, perhaps, inevitable she would try to recreate that book's magic. The early pages do feel nostalgic and comforting. Yet too soon, despite Harris' best creative efforts, after adding vibrant colours, sounds, smells - and sweet peaches as Rocher's tempting new treat - to the mixture, the story starts to feel forced and contrived.

Fans will rejoice at Rocher's return to Lansquenet; there is much to enjoy. Yet the new 'dressing', heaped on the same old setting and plot, can't quite dispel the feeling of deja vu, er, all over again.