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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book and they way it went back and forth from the 40’s to present day. Although a few times I suspected what might happen, I like the fact it wasn’t evident until late in the book and even then there were some surprises. I read a lot of wwii historical fiction and also liked that this was plausible yet all fiction. And, I learned about the champagne region at the same time! A toast to a great book.
This was a beautifully written story of how the choices we make in difficult times can haunt us, and ultimately shape the rest of our lives and those of future generations. The author did a great job with the plot and the characters. However, I felt the pacing was off. I also felt like the dual timeline structure didn’t work very well for me. I also felt that some of the historical details were glossed over or not really mentioned (eg, there were severe gasoline shortages and rationing so I found it hard to believe that Ines was able to drive to Reims so often without this being an issue). Ultimately, though, this was a well-written and emotionally compelling read.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy.
I REALLY wanted to love this book and while the ending redeemed itself from a potential two star rating, it just felt like a big letdown. The main characters are selfish and whether it’s the past or present characters, I just wanted to smack some sense into them. As one other reviewer noted, it felt like a debut novel rather than one written by an accomplished author. I have loved other books written by the author and hope this one was just a one-off.
Overall quite good and lots of twists at the end. However it felt a bit contrived at times when Grandma Edith kept avoiding telling Liv the story of her life. Also I wish Edith was shown to forgive herself.
This book fell short for me in its characters. While I enjoyed reading about Liv’s story with her grandmother, Inés, Céline, Theo and Michel were not the best of characters. I think this was a unique story of the war and it was cool to read about the role of Champagne in the resistance, it just was not fun to read. I did really enjoy the ending, I thought it redeemed some of the characters and rounded out the story well.
Wow!! What a phenomenal book! This story of survival, passion, life, love, regret, and so much more was impossible to put down. The author developed this story in such a way that it captured my heart! Amazing!!
I don’t know. I expected to like this more because historical fictions are usually my jam, but this one just didn’t do it for me. I never connected to the characters to care more, and even with some helpful twists toward the end, I still wanted it to be over. There are so many crazy stories from WWII that are true that I found this fictional one too dramatized for an audience, and I found myself wanting to find true stories from French wineries in the war because I bet there are some!
Five stars aren’t enough for this book!! Another amazingly written WWII novel by Kristen Harmel that I basically binged in one sitting. Like many of the great books set in this time period, The Winemaker’a Wife was heartbreakingly good and moving.
This is a dual timeline story, alternating between the 1940s and 2019. In the past the chapters follow, Ines, the wife of a successful champagne vineyard owner and Celine, the winemaker’s wife. In the “present” the story is told through the perspective of Olivia, a recently divorced 40-year-old who returns to Paris with her 99-year-old grandmother to find out a whole part of history she knew nothing about. The narrative dives into the horrors of war, the power of love and reveals family secrets that were buried for generations. Harmel deliberately plotted this story in a way that connected the two timelines seamlessly with the perfect amount of suspense and at times, anger and frustration over the events that occurred, but also joy when parts came full circle. It was so well-researched and most of the events that occurred were inspired by true events (definitely read the authors note).
Read if you’re interested in:
This is a dual timeline story, alternating between the 1940s and 2019. In the past the chapters follow, Ines, the wife of a successful champagne vineyard owner and Celine, the winemaker’s wife. In the “present” the story is told through the perspective of Olivia, a recently divorced 40-year-old who returns to Paris with her 99-year-old grandmother to find out a whole part of history she knew nothing about. The narrative dives into the horrors of war, the power of love and reveals family secrets that were buried for generations. Harmel deliberately plotted this story in a way that connected the two timelines seamlessly with the perfect amount of suspense and at times, anger and frustration over the events that occurred, but also joy when parts came full circle. It was so well-researched and most of the events that occurred were inspired by true events (definitely read the authors note).
Read if you’re interested in: