The French Winemaker’s Daughter (Loretta Ellsworth)

This novel takes us from the vineyards of Burgundy in 1942 to Paris in 1990, two periods linked by a bottle of wine bought at auction at the Hôtel Drouot for a colossal sum in 1990. What is the story behind this precious bottle?

June 1942 – Martine is 7 years old and lives with her father on a wine estate in Burgundy. She grew up in the vineyard, where her father taught her a lot about vines and growing grapes. Unfortunately, she and her father are Jewish and, when the Nazis break into their house, her father hides her in a cupboard and gives her a bottle of wine and a note. When calm returned to the house, she came out of her hiding place, but she heard the Nazis in the orchard and, seized by fear, she left the bottle of wine and went to hide. In the village, she finds little sympathy and embarks on a frightening train journey to Paris to try to find her aunt. When she arrives in Paris, she discovers that her aunt has also been taken away. She huddles down and falls asleep in the corner of a doorway, where Sister Ada finds her and takes her to an abbey. To protect her, she is taught Catholic prayers and told never to tell anyone that she is Jewish. Martine grows up at the abbey, where she discovers that Sister Ada is not what she seems. Martine learns about the resistance and becomes attached to Sister Ada and her friends.

1990 — Charlotte is American. She is a pilot for a major airline and often travels to Paris. Her boyfriend, Henri, is a wine collector. At an auction at the Hôtel Drouot, he buys a case of wine dating from the Second World War. Henri and Charlotte drink it and Henri, who concludes that they are not very valuable, offers one of the bottles to Charlotte. She doesn’t really pay attention to it at first, until one day she discovers that the label is peeling off and reveals another label with a note. She then embarks on a quest from vineyard to vineyard to try to trace the history of this bottle. She wants to know who wrote the note, to whom it was written and what happened to them.

I will not say more about the story but it is a life changer for Martine and Charlotte.

I liked Loretta Ellsworth’s sober and concise style. The narrative alternates between past and present, in a fluid and immersive writing. I appreciated all the sensory descriptions in the book, which immerse the reader in the world of wine and the life of the characters. The character of Martine is extremely endearing to the reader. The character of Charlotte a bit of a feminist cliche who is sometimes a little irritating, but who discovers a deeper side to her life by learning about Martine’s experience and meeting Martine and her son.

The atmosphere of the war is portrayed in depth, and we see the tensions in French society between the resistance fighters, the collaborators and other sympathisers of the regime, and the extremely harsh conditions in which many people found themselves, especially the children. The author really makes us experience what Martine feels, right up to the end of the book, where she brings to light the past that she had buried inside her.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I felt that the author’s sober style contrasts with the emotion of the story and the historical context in which it is set, really bringing it to life for the reader. It drew my attention to this part of our history, which is a facet I did not know very much about.

You can listen to Loretta talk about her book in this interview by WTIP Community Radio and learn more about her other books on her website. I am definitely looking forward to reading her next novel.