The Vineyards of Champagne by Juliet Blackwell is my 5th. book for the European Reading challenge which is being hosted by Rose City Reader. It covers the country of 'France'.
Rosalyn Acosta is currently working for the wine industry in the Napa Valley in California. It's not her dream job but when her adored husband, Dash, died two years ago he left her with debts and no job to help pay them off. Friend of the family, Hugh, employs her out of the goodness of his heart but now wants her to travel to the Champagne region of France to scout out new varieties of Champagne for him to sell. But, to put it bluntly, she doesn't want to go. France holds too many memories of her blissful honeymoon with Dash and Rosalyn has become a bit of a hermit into the bargain, grieving non-stop for her adored husband. And to add insult to injury... she really doesn't like Champagne that much.
Hugh gets his way and Rosalyn is off to France. On the plane she meets Emma, an Australian woman, and they get talking. Emma has some letters from World War One that she wants to investigate. They were written to her Australian aunt by a young French soldier, somewhat in the style of them being pen pals. Sensing something in Rosalyn she asks her if she would like to take on the task of looking into them as Emma has broken her leg and isn't very mobile at the moment. Rosalyn feels unable to it take on but mistakenly takes one of the letters after reading it on the plane. Reading it properly later she becomes fascinated and isn't exactly unhappy when Emma arrives at the gite complex to visit her, bringing the rest of the letters. A whole new world of history opens up to her when she begins to read them, that of the people of Reims hiding from German bombs and snipers in the Champagne caves under the city during WW1. Rosalyn has no idea of course that the friends she's making as a result of both this trip to France, and of these letters, will begin the healing process she so badly needs.
I first read about this book on Marg's blog, here. I liked the sound of a book about the history of a region you don't often read about. And here I must confess that I didn't know where the Champagne region was. I had some vague idea that it was somewhere in the south near Provence. Nope. It's actually in North Eastern France! It has a border with Belgium and is nextdoor to Alsace-Lorraine. The city of Reims which features in this book is halfway between Paris and the Belgian border. No wonder it had such an awful time during WW1. I didn't know about that either.
There are two story-lines in this book. The main one is that of Rosalyn's unwilling trip to France and the people she meets who become friends. The secondary time-line is told via the letters written by the French soldier, Émile, to Doris in Australia, plus we learn a lot more about that situation as Rosalyn, Blondine and Emma begin their search. I thought the book was a joy in that heartwarming manner that depicts hope and healing in the face of great grief. Rosalyn finds that France weaves a magic spell on her although the effect is not immediate. I loved reading about French meals and traditions in the area and the way in which Champagne is made differently to wine... I didn't know that either. It seems I learnt quite a lot from this delightful book. Will definitely read more by Juliet Blackwell.
10 comments:
OMG! What a lovely sounding book and a super review!
I have no idea when I saw it on one of your earlier posts, why I thought this book was non-fiction - possibly because it was next to a non-fiction book on the page - so making assumptions almost made me miss this one completely. I am definitely off to add it to my list, as it has such great ratings and reviews, including your own!
Yvonne
xx
Did you like one story line better than the other, because when I read books like this I usually end up preferring one story line over the other. (Which means I usually end up skimming half the book. ;D )
I am glad you enjoyed it! I learned a lot when I read it too!
Yvonne: Thank you for your kind words and yes, it was a super book. Well, 'Vineyards of Champagne' could very easily be a the title of a non-fiction book so I can see why you assumed it was. Yes, I think most people have enjoyed it and I'm certainly going to be looking carefully at what else the author has written, especially about France which, as you know, I have a real weakness for.
Lark: Good question! And the answer is yes. :-) The storyline I got most enjoyment from was the modern-day one of Rosalyn and her new friends and their investigations into what happened to Emile after WW1. But I didn't 'dislike' the other storyline either.
Marg: I loved it and am so pleased I found out about it from your post. So, thank you!
This does sound good, I like novels with two story lines, and the extract at Marg's blog was intriguing. The author has written a lot of books, some mysteries, and some with her sister.
I didn't know anything about people sheltering in the caves during the war. I found that aspect of the novel totally fascinating!
Sounds good, Cath. I had no idea where that region of the country was located either, but from what you say it must have been a heavily fought-in part of the country during WWII, too. A couple of generations saw a whole lot of fighting and destruction there, sounds like. Interesting storyline; I'll see if i can get a copy.
Tracy: I never used to be much of a fan of novels with two storylines, one minute you're immersed in someone's story, the next you're whisked off somewhere else! But I've come to appreciate them more this year and I particularly like the world war based ones. Yes, I didn't realise how many books this author has written including, as you said, a mystery series. Might bear investigating.
Susan: I honestly had no idea about those poor people in the caves. And if they ventured out they could have been killed by snipers, and they were women, children and the elderly, it was heartless and heart-breaking.
Sam: It's funny, I know where a lot of the more well known regions of France are but I could do a lot better as regards the geography of that country. And I had no idea that Champagne came from an area so close to the Belgian border and that it would have seen terrible fighting in both world wars. I'm guessing that in WW2 the Germans just ploughed straight through it and on to Paris.
I'm kind of tired of the dual storyline narrative but this one sounds a little unique in that one is told through letters. I do love champagne and France and may give this a try.
bermudaonion: Yes, I thought this one was slightly different to your normal
run-of-the-mill dual storyline. It didn't intrude so much being told via the letters.
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