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

November 1, 2019
Rosalyn Acosta knows many would be envious of her current work trip to France. But France is the last place Rosalyn wants to be. Still overcome with grief over the death of her husband two years ago, Rosalyn isn't ready to face the place where their happiest memories were made. On the flight over, Rosalyn is seated next to Emma Kinsley, who is as effervescent as the champagne she invests in. Emma introduces Rosalyn to family correspondence between her ancestor and a French WWI soldier; Rosalyn is immediately intrigued by these relics from the past. Meeting again in Champagne, Emma entices Rosalyn to translate the letters, unfolding a story of tragedy and human survival during harrowing times. Through the letters, and her time spent in Champagne, Rosalyn slowly begins to feel the desire to live again. Blackwell's exquisite talent at interweaving the past with the present is on full display in her latest (after The Lost Carousel of Provence, 2018), telling the universal story of grief, loss, and human resilience. Perfect with a flute of the bubbly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)