Themes

Perseverance:
Fear of the Black Man kept Vianne and her mother on the run for years. When Vianne grew up and had a daughter of her own, she decided that she wanted to settle down and allow her daughter to grow up differently than she had. They settle down in the isolate town of Lansquenet and Vianne decides to face the Black Man. Perseverance appears from both parties here. Reynaud, pictured as the black man, tries different approaches to evict Vianne from Lansquenet. Vianne, on the other hand, persists with her defensive maneuvers against Reynaud before eventually kicking him out.
Perseverance is also present in Reynaud’s consistent preaching against the River people, Armande’s efforts to reconnect with her grandson and Josephine’s independence from Paul.

The Past:
The novel’s two main characters, Reynaud and Vianne, share a common past. Little is known about the link between the two’s pasts but there are clues throughout the novel that hint that this is not the first meeting between the two. Vianne remembers things about her past throughout the novel, especially at night when little Anouk is asleep. Reynaud recalls incidents from his childhood in the chapters where he addresses ‘pere’. Both seem to know each other or each other’s type just as they met. There is a reason why the town isn’t big enough for the both of them, but Joanne Harris leaves that reason to the reader’s imagination.

Mysterious Stranger:
The mysterious stranger in this novel is Francis Reynaud who embodies the antagonist. It is deduced that he is the Black Man that Vianne has spent her whole life running away from. However, it is unclear whether Reynaud is the Black Man himself or just a representative of him.
Mysterious strangers also appear in other parts of the novel but take up a very minor role. The faceless people in Vianne’s dreams and Paul Muscat the night of the fire can also be considered mysterious strangers.