Winning entry
My favourite mother is a fictional one, the character Vianne Rocher in the novel (and film) 'Chocolat'. Vianne is a great maker of chocolates, which is a fabulous quality for any mother to have, but she is so much more besides: she is a single mother, she is an outsider, she is defiantly capable and yet she is flawed. The 'baggage' Vianne is carrying from her own childhood is damaging both herself and her daughter, and she learns how to stop living with the ghosts of her past and to move forward, freeing them both and enabling them to flourish. Her enlightenment is mirrored in the members of the community where she has settled, and their initial rejection of her is transformed into acceptance, so that she ends up being the beating heart of her community. She embodies resilience, emotional honesty and generosity - great qualities in a mother!
