The Winemaker's Wife

by Kristin Harmel Narrated by Robin Eller, Lisa Flanagan, Madeleine Maby

Overview

“Love and betrayal, forgiveness and redemption combine in a heady tale of the ever present past” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author) set amid the champagne vineyards of northern France during the darkest days of World War II. Perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Julia Kelly's The Light Over London.

Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the Résistance. Inès fears they'll be exposed, but for Céline, half-Jewish wife of Chauveau's chef de cave, the risk is even greater-rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate.

When Céline recklessly follows her heart in a desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love-and the champagne house that ties them together.

New York, 2019: Liv Kent has just lost everything when her eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive-and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.

A spellbinding and exceptional tale of love, courage, and betrayal, “once you start reading this moving novel, you will not be able to put it down until you reach the last page” (Armando Lucas Correa, author of The German Girl).

Editorial Reviews

Armando Lucas Correa

With exceptional skill, Kristin Harmel constructs The Winemaker's Wife between the past and the present, giving equal weight and importance to both, all the while weaving a tale full of secrets and betrayals that puts to the test mankind's strength, fragility and vileness. Once you start reading this moving novel, you will not be able to put it down until you reach the last page.

Kelly Harms Wimmer

"Kristin Harmel is the best there is at sweeping historical drama intertwined with modern-day stories of real, relatable women you can't stop cheering for. In THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE, you'll fall in love with Ines and Liv, and wish you had a grande dame in your life like Edith, whose depiction is as perfect as her omni-present Kelly bag.

As you stay up late reading this novel of the French Champagne region in the midst of the second world war and the generations forever altered by those dark hours, keep a good supply of tissues close, not just for the reading of this gorgeous work, but for that moment when the story ends and your heart soars with the beauty of the telling."

Juliette Fay

"Richly detailed and yet fast-paced, Harmel’s story flows at remarkable depth, as ordinary citizens rise to the challenge of extraordinary circumstances in occupied France. A fascinating exploration of the escape routes set up for downed Allied pilots, readers will be swept up in this heart-wrenching drama."

Maureen Leurck

The Winemaker’s Wife is a beautifully told, atmospheric story about redemption, heartbreak, resilience, and courage. With evocative prose and a lush setting in a champagne winery, it reminds us of the power of secrets, and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.

Amy E. Reichert

"The strong and courageous inhabitants of THE ROOM ON RUE AMELIE occupied all my time until the tender and powerful final pages. Beautifully written, Kristin Harmel’s latest is an unforgettable exploration of love and hope during the darkest of moments."

New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe

Set against all the danger and drama of WWII Paris, this heartfelt novel will keep you turning the pages until the very last word.

bestselling author Michelle Gable on WHEN WE MEET AGAIN

"Centering on a lesser-known facet of American history, WHEN WE MEET AGAIN is a gripping novel of history, art, and the power of love. Kristin Harmel’s work is always riveting but her storytelling reaches new heights with a tale that is layered, complex, and satisfying to the last page."

bestselling author Barbara Taylor Sissel

"A story of courage and love in unimaginable circumstances."

Anita Hughes

"Written in heart-wrenching prose, THE WINEMAKER'S WIFE is a complex story of love, betrayal and impossible courage set in the champagne growing region of France during World War II. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and savored every moment at the same time."

Alyson Noël

What could be better than a story of champagne, secrets, lies, and history from a writer as compulsively readable as Kristin Harmel? Pick up this epic and heart-wrenching WWII tale immediately!

New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin on THE SWEETNESS OF FORGETTING

Kristin Harmel writes with such insight and heart that her characters will stay with you long after you’ve finished her books.”

Tampa Bay Times on The Winemaker’s Wife

“Engrossing... a suspenseful tale of betrayals personal and political, and of courage and sacrifice.”

Jewish Book Council

"This book of historical fiction is also a surprising story of love, courage, and the resiliency of the human spirit....[Harmel] manages to draw her audience in, even to the point of unexpected tears at the story’s end.."

Booklist

Harmel writes a poignant novel based loosely on the true story of an American woman who helped on the Comet Line, which rescued hundreds of airmen and soldiers. This compelling story celebrates hope and bravery in the face of evil.

NYTimes bestselling author Mariah Stewart

"Reminiscent of The Nightingale and The Map of the Heart, Kristin Harmel's THE ROOM ON RUE AMELIE is an emotional, heart-breaking, inspiring tribute to the strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love."

Pam Jenoff

“Love and betrayal, forgiveness and redemption combine in a heady tale of the ever present past...fantastic!"

People on THE ROOM ON RUE AMELIE

"Harmel's engrossing latest reminds us that love, like resistance, begins with courage."

Booklist on THE LIFE INTENDED

"The latest from Harmel...is an affecting tale about finding happiness amid grief and guilt. Some twists are telegraphed early in the novel, but that doesn’t diminish the satisfying conclusion."

bestselling author Melissa Senate on THE SWEETNESS OF FORGETTING

Kristin Harmel...[is] one of my favorite authors!”

-Maureen Leurck

The Winemaker’s Wife is a beautifully told, atmospheric story about redemption, heartbreak, resilience, and courage. With evocative prose and a lush setting in a champagne winery, it reminds us of the power of secrets, and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.

Tampa Bay Times on The Winemakers Wife

“Engrossing... a suspenseful tale of betrayals personal and political, and of courage and sacrifice.”

Tampa Bay Times on The Winemaker’s Wife

“Engrossing... a suspenseful tale of betrayals personal and political, and of courage and sacrifice.”

Alyson Noël

What could be better than a story of champagne, secrets, lies, and history from a writer as compulsively readable as Kristin Harmel? Pick up this epic and heart-wrenching WWII tale immediately!

Booklist

Harmel writes a poignant novel based loosely on the true story of an American woman who helped on the Comet Line, which rescued hundreds of airmen and soldiers. This compelling story celebrates hope and bravery in the face of evil.

People

"Harmel's engrossing latest reminds us that love, like resistance, begins with courage."

Kirkus Reviews

2019-05-14
Harmel (The Room on Rue Amélie, 2018, etc.) returns with another historical novel set in France during World War II.

This novel alternates between 1940 at the Chauveau Champagne winery near Reims as the German occupation begins and the present day in the same area, where recently divorced Liv Kent's 99-year-old grandmother, Edith, has brought her so that Edith can attend to some "business." Gradually Liv begins to understand they are in Reims so she can learn what happened in 1940 that changed the futures of her grandparents, their friends, and the Chauveau winery. She discerns this in part from the new man in her life, Julien, grandson and partner of Edith's longtime lawyer. Harmel weaves in real historical figures such as Otto Klaebisch, the "weinführer" in Champagne during the war, and Count Robert-Jean de Vogüé, Resistance leader and head of Moët & Chandon. The story of fictional Resistance member and Champagne proprietor Michel Chauveau may be realistic, but parts of the story about his young wife, Inès, are less convincing. The Chauveaus employ winemaker Theo Laurent, whose wife Céline's family is Jewish. While Inès' naïve insistence that Céline's family is far from danger is somewhat understandable—many people were unable to believe what was happening at the time—it doesn't square with her recollection of her WWI veteran father insisting "You can never trust the Huns!" Inès' vacillating sympathies might reflect her youth, but they set up a chain of events that leads to dramatic changes in her life, which in turn set up the dramatic unveiling of Edith's secrets in the modern section of the book. All of which requires suspension of disbelief. Liv's love interest, while sudden, is somewhat more believable, as is Edith's reluctance to tell Liv the family history. Even in those sections, Harmel resorts to formulaic moments, such as a mix-up about whether Julien is married and a scene where a character is welcomed to heaven with forgiving words from other characters.

A somewhat entertaining but mostly predictable story; Champagne fans and readers who can't get enough WWII fiction will probably still enjoy it.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170919130
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	438,422

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One: May 1940 one MAY 1940 INÈS
The road snaked over the lush vineyards of Champagne as Inès Chauveau sped southwest out of Reims, clouds of dust ballooning in the wake of her glossy black Citroën, wind whipping ferociously through her chestnut hair. It was May, and already the vines were awakening, their buds like tiny fists reaching for the sun. In weeks they would flower, and by September, their grapes—pale green Chardonnay, inky Pinot Meunier, blueberry-hued Pinot Noir—would be plump and bursting for the harvest.

But would Inès still be here? Would any of them? A shiver ran through her as she braked to hug a curve, the engine growling in protest as she turned down the road that led home. Michel would tell her she was driving too quickly, too recklessly. But then, he was cautious about everything.

In June, it would be a year since they’d married, and she couldn’t remember a day during that time that he hadn’t gently chided her about something. I’m simply looking out for you, Inès, he always said. That’s what a husband is supposed to do. Lately, nearly all his warnings had been about the Germans, who’d been lurking just on the other side of the impenetrable Maginot Line, the fortified border that protected France from the chaos besetting the rest of Europe. Those of us who were here for the Great War know to take them seriously, he said at least once a day, as if he hadn’t been just four years old when the final battle was waged.

Of course Inès, younger than Michel by six years, hadn’t yet been born when the Germans finally withdrew from the Marne in 1918, after nearly obliterating the central city of Reims. But her father had told enough tales about the war—usually while drunk on brandy and pounding his fist against the table—that she knew to be wary.

You can never trust the Huns! She could hear her father’s deep, gravelly voice in her ear now, though he’d been dead for years. They might play the role of France’s friend, but only fools would believe such a thing.

Well, Inès was no fool. And this time, for once, she would bring the news that changed everything. She felt a small surge of triumph, but as she raced into Ville-Dommange, the silent, somber, seven-hundred-year-old Saint-Lié chapel that loomed over the small town seemed to taunt her for her pettiness. This wasn’t about who was wrong and who was right. This was about war. Death. The blood of young men already soaking the ground in the forests to the northeast. All the things her husband had predicted.

She drove through the gates, braked hard in front of the grand two-story stone château, and leapt out, racing for the door that led down to the vast network of underground cellars. “Michel!” she called as she descended two stone steps at a time, the cool, damp air like a bucket of water to the face. “Michel!”

Her voice echoed through the tangled maze of passageways, carved out of the earth three-quarters of a century earlier by her husband’s eccentric great-grandfather. Thousands of champagne bottles rested on their sides there, a small fortune of bubbles waiting for their next act.

“Inès?” Michel’s concerned voice wafted from somewhere deep within the cellars, and then she could hear footsteps coming closer until he rounded the corner ahead of her, followed by Theo Laurent, the Maison Chauveau’s chef de cave, the head winemaker. “My dear, what is it?” Michel asked as he rushed to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and studying her face. “Are you quite all right, Inès?”

“No.” She hadn’t realized until then how breathless she was from the news and the drive and the rapid descent into the chill of the cellars. “No, Michel, I’m not all right at all.”

“What’s happened?” Michel asked while Theo regarded her silently, his expression as impassive as always.

“It has begun,” Inès managed to say. “The invasion, Michel. The Germans are coming!”

A heavy silence hung in the damp air. How long would it be before the quiet of the cellars was punctured by the thud of goose-stepping boots overhead? Before everything they’d built was threatened, perhaps destroyed?

“Well then,” Michel said at last. “I suppose it is time we finish hiding the champagne.”

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