The Vineyards of Champagne
Beneath the cover of France’s most exquisite vineyards, a city of women defy an army during World War I.
Deep within the labyrinth of caves that lie below the lush, rolling vineyards of the Champagne region, an underground city of women and children hums with life. Forced to take shelter from the unrelenting onslaught of German shellfire above, the bravest among them venture out to pluck sweet grapes for the harvest. But wine is not the only secret preserved in the cool, dark cellars…
In present day, Rosalyn travels to Champagne to select vintages for her Napa-based employer. Rosalyn doesn’t much care for champagne—or France, for that matter. Since the untimely death of her young husband, Rosalyn finds it a challenge to enjoy anything at all. But as she reads through a precious cache of WWI letters and retraces the lives lived in the limestone tunnels, Rosalyn will unravel a mystery hidden for decades… and find a way to savor her own life again, inspired by the hope and defiance of the women who toiled to bring in the grape harvest during the war.
“Blackwell’s exquisite talent at interweaving the past with the present is on full display in her latest…telling the universal story of grief, loss, and human resilience.”
—Booklist
“Blackwell moves effortlessly between present-day France and the battlefields of WWI in this rich novel…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.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A beautifully captivating story of wartime tenacity and tenderness.”
—Susan Meissner, author of The Last Year of the War