The Vineyards of Champagne

November 11, 2019
Blackwell (Letters from Paris) moves effortlessly between present-day France and the battlefields of WWI in this rich novel. In present-day Napa, Calif., Rosalyn Acosta is working for Small Fortune Wines and is dispatched to the Champagne region of France to represent the vineyard at a festival. Still suffering following the loss of her husband over two years before, Rosalyn is hesitant to travel but reluctantly agrees. On the flight, she meets Emma Kinsley, a wealthy Australian woman who has invested in some vineyards near Emma’s destination. During the flight, Rosalyn helps Emma organize letters that were written by WWI soldier Emile Legrand to Emma’s great-aunt Doris. Emma hopes to find the letters her aunt wrote to Emile in Reims, as his letters mentioned that he stored Doris’s letters there. Emile’s letters reveal the destruction of WWI and how the civilians retreated to live in the caves where the champagne was stored. As Rosalyn seeks to make connections with local vineyard owners and helps Emma search for the missing letters, she begins to heal from the loss of her husband. Blackwell balances the two story lines well, and makes both Rosalyn and Emma memorable. The allure of the decades-old mystery of missing letters juxtaposed against the history of the caves of Champagne makes for a satisfying page-turner. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel and Goderich Literary Management

This novel takes place in two time frames--during WWI and in the present day. Narrator Xe Sands handles both with aplomb. Her tonal quality for the two time periods is quite distinct, so it's easy to keep track of whose story is being told. Emile and Lucie dominate the war story with tales of life as a soldier and those left behind. In the contemporary subplot, Rosalyn, a young widow, travels to Champagne, France, for work and is drawn into the WWI tale. Sands deftly articulates accents from three countries, males and females of varying ages, and the emotions associated with grief, resilience, frustration, and joy. Get ready to plan a trip to France after hearing this book. B.E.S. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine