Champagne Widows
by Rebecca Rosenberg
4/5 stars
CAWPILE: 7.75 (C7, A8, W7, P8, I8, L8, E8)
Read dates: 2.9.2023 to 2.13.2023 Pub date: 8.17.2021
Book Tour with @katieandbreypa
Blurb:
This effervescent historical novel paints a richly detailed portrait of the enterprising Veuve Clicquot. The twinned plots of Clicquot and Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise and fall are filled with detail that gives life to this far-off time. The prose is light, yet detailed, and peppered with moments of wry humor. Napoleon's characterization is well-crafted and gives his character new life. Clicquot’s character is charming, and readers will love getting to know her. Rosenberg has a superb eye for blending humor with drama.” ~Publisher’s Weekly BookLife Prize From a triple-gold award-winning author, Rebecca Rosenberg: Champagne, France, 1800. Twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (an uncanny sense of smell) from her great-grandfather, a renowned champagne maker. She is determined to use Le Nez to make great champagne, but the Napoleon Code prohibits women from owning a business. When she learns her childhood sweetheart, François Clicquot, wants to start a winery, she marries him despite his mental illness. Soon, her husband’s tragic death forces her to become Veuve (Widow) Clicquot and grapple with a domineering partner, the complexities of making champagne, and six Napoleon wars, which cripple her ability to sell champagne. When she falls in love with her sales manager, Louis Bohne, who asks her to marry, she must choose between losing her winery to her husband, as dictated by Napoleon Code, or losing Louis. In the ultimate showdown, Veuve Clicquot defies Napoleon himself, risking prison and even death.
“A tadpole becomes a frog, and if he’s lucky enough to be kissed by his true love, he becomes a prince.”
When I saw this book, I had to jump on the book tour because Veuve is my absolute favorite. We had it at our wedding, when our kids were born, and when we bought our first house. It’s our celebratory bubbly.
I loved getting to know Barbe-Nicole. She was hilarious and didn’t take flack from anyone. It’s so impressive how she managed and successfully ran a vineyard as a woman during wartime in the 1800s. There was a perfect blend of history and story. I think some historical fiction novels can overdo the history part but not this one. It was just the right amount to make the atmosphere of the book make sense and to also teach you something about Napoleon and his wars.
I’ll definitely be adding Barbe-Nicole Cliquot to my list of woman role models for myself and my girls. I also cannot wait to read the second book in the Champagne Windows series!
Thank you to @katieandbreypa and @rebeccarosenbergnovelist for the ebook in exchange for an honest review!
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