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The Vineyards of Champagne by Juliet Blackwell

What's It About?

Everyone wants to tell Rosalyn Acosta how to live her life. Her husband, Dash, used to insist she relax and enjoy it. Then he died and, much to her surprise, left her in debt. 

In a second storyline, Lucie Marechal and her family lose everything with the invasion of the Germans during World War I. They build a new life in caves found beneath the Champagne Region in France.

With neatly woven and suspenseful stories bridging the lives of two women protagonists who lived an ocean and more than a century apart, New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell brings us to The Vineyards of Champagne (Berkley Books).

The story begins in Napa Valley, as Rosalyn’s boss assigns her to go to France to contract with some small champagne producers to import their products to his California winery. Rosalyn unsuccessfully resists his assignment; her spoken French is rusty, she’s still grieving her husband, and she hates champagne, but given her grave financial situation, she needs the work. 

On the flight to Paris, a flight she last took with Dash and never wanted to take again, Rosalyn meets Australian Emma Kinsley. Their encounter eventually connects the past to the present. During the flight, Rosalyn learns of Emma’s great-aunt, Doris, who, beginning in 1917, exchanged letters with a French soldier, through a program called “War Grandmothers.” Emma’s cache of compelling letters, though rich in content, appear disorganized in her care.

TWO STORYLINES, TWO ROMANCES

These letters and Rosalyn’s time in France set the stage for two love stories occurring over 100 years apart. Both stories center in the capital of the province of Champagne, paying homage to the city of Reims. One character describes this city as “a theatre of war,” a land once so beaten that the grapes grown there fizz in the champagne as an offering of joy and balance, especially to the characters in this novel.

During WWI, Lucie, her parents and young brother lose their home in Reims and find shelter in caves as the Germans continue to attack. The caves were originally built under the city for refuge and later to store wine. Lucie meets a soldier, Émile Legrand, and the two fall in love. Émile recounts the events leading to their meeting along with a raw description of his life in the trenches on the front lines through his letters to his War Godmother. 

Present day, Rosalyn meets a champagne producer, Jérôme Comtois, in Champagne while Emma rejoins Rosalyn there, hoping to persuade her to write the WWI story contained in her great-aunt’s letters. Rosalyn emerges as an unlikely hero. She delves into the century-old letters, giving meaning to Lucie and Émile’s’ relationship. And, eventually, through Blackwell’s rich dialogue, mesmerizing settings and startling plot twists, the WWI and contemporary story lines intersect, keeping the reader guessing about the connection all along.

A VIVID AND ABSORBING ACCOUNT

Blackwell writes two captivating story lines spanning time and place. As she introduces each character, the reader wants to know more. Her meticulous research and absorbing writing style provide a vivid backdrop of the horrors and triumphs of WWI and the fascinating intricacies of present-day champagne production. She takes us from the grape to the bottle to the cork.

Yes, Blackwell has an exceptional ability to bring the reader into the room. A scene in the novel describes a dinner where the host traditionally puts an extra place setting on the table in the event that a stranger comes by. Reading this novel, I felt as though Juliet Blackwell left a place setting out for us. Relax, read and enjoy this novel.

 The Vineyards of Champagne is now available.

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The Vineyards of Champagne by Juliet Blackwell
Genre: Book Club Network, Fiction, Historical
Author: Juliet Blackwell
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780451490650
Mary Ann Ryan

Recently retired after a 40-year career in higher education, Dr. Mary Ann Ryan now writes women’s fiction. She and her spouse, Sarah, live in St. Paul, Minnesota with their puppies Salvador and Spunky.

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