The Vineyards of Champagne by Juliet Blackwell

With crystalline imagery, vivid characters and lively prose, Juliet Blackwell redefines what family means, in a way that will touch readers long after they've read the last page. In this meticulously researched novel, Juliet Blackwell deftly navigates three time periods, taking us from contemporary California to both The Belle Époque and Nazi-occupied France as she spins a story as charming as an antique carousel.'-Sally Koslow, author of Another Side of Paradise 'An untrusting American orphan meets a dysfunctional French family-and each turns out to possess wisdom that helps the other to heal from old, old wounds. Praise for The Lost Carousel of Provence 'Blackwell uses an outsider's passion to shine a light into the dark past of a broken family and how a sweet, wooden rabbit can bring them together again.'-The Associated Press 'Plan your trip to Provence now.

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. Since the untimely death of her young husband, Rosalyn finds it a challenge to enjoy anything at all. Rosalyn doesn't much care for champagne-or France, for that matter. In present day, Rosalyn Acosta travels to Champagne to select vintages for her Napa-based employer.

But wine is not the only secret preserved in the cool, dark cellars. Forced to take shelter from the unrelenting onslaught of German shellfire above, the bravest and most defiant women venture out to pluck sweet grapes for the harvest. Deep within the labyrinth of caves that lies below the lush, rolling vineyards of the Champagne region, an underground city of women and children hums with life. Beneath the cover of France's most exquisite vineyards, a city of women defy an army during World War I, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Carousel of Provence.

The Vineyards of Champagne by Juliet Blackwell