Review of Champagne Widows
Posted: 17 Jun 2023, 02:33
[Following is a volunteer review of "Champagne Widows" by Rebecca Rosenberg.]
Reading Champagne Widows is like looking through a window and seeing directly into 19th Century France. Rebecca Rosenberg perfectly captures the story of the first woman to make Champagne, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin. The trials and endless struggle that Barbe-Nicole has had to endure on her own over the 15 or so years while France was at war with so many countries are not limited to just being a widow.This book showcases many of the struggles such as illness, war, politics, death and loss, anxiety, family struggles, mental health illnesses, being a single mother and running a successful business on your own while the men around you are trying to stifle you to obey them. Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (her heightened sense of smell) from her grandfather and that blessing has helped her immensely in her wine making efforts to pick the best fruits of the harvest to take to bottle and her gift has saved her more than once. This book makes me dream of sharing a romantic getaway in the Loire Valley of France with picnics at the chateaux, the smell of fresh baguettes and lavender fields and drinking the best champagne and eating as many macarons and madeleines I can find. I will say I dreamt of eating the Wedding Croquembouche and so woke up at 3am to make a batch of my own to devour. I recommend this book for anyone who loves Champagne, history, love, and all things French and rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
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Champagne Widows
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Reading Champagne Widows is like looking through a window and seeing directly into 19th Century France. Rebecca Rosenberg perfectly captures the story of the first woman to make Champagne, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin. The trials and endless struggle that Barbe-Nicole has had to endure on her own over the 15 or so years while France was at war with so many countries are not limited to just being a widow.This book showcases many of the struggles such as illness, war, politics, death and loss, anxiety, family struggles, mental health illnesses, being a single mother and running a successful business on your own while the men around you are trying to stifle you to obey them. Barbe-Nicole inherited Le Nez (her heightened sense of smell) from her grandfather and that blessing has helped her immensely in her wine making efforts to pick the best fruits of the harvest to take to bottle and her gift has saved her more than once. This book makes me dream of sharing a romantic getaway in the Loire Valley of France with picnics at the chateaux, the smell of fresh baguettes and lavender fields and drinking the best champagne and eating as many macarons and madeleines I can find. I will say I dreamt of eating the Wedding Croquembouche and so woke up at 3am to make a batch of my own to devour. I recommend this book for anyone who loves Champagne, history, love, and all things French and rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
******
Champagne Widows
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon