I was sent a free copy of Madame Pommery by Rebecca Rosenberg through Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. All opinions are my own.
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About Madame Pommery:
Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, crisp wine to be enjoyed anytime.
When champagne makers refuse to teach her their craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of champagne caves under the Reims city dump.
Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, the Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies Madame Pommery’s house as his army headquarters.
Undaunted, Pommery uses her secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for France, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above the caves.
But when her former lover, a Scottish Baron, unexpectedly proposes marriage, Madame Pommery must choose between nobility and her passionate quest for fine champagne and the most beautiful winery in the world.
Based on a true story, Madame Pommery is a heroic novel about a mother and widow who fights the Prussians, the social class system, champagne patriarchs, and champagne tastes to create a champagne legacy.
You can purchase Madame Pommery on Amazon.com
About the Author:
Follow Rebecca Rosenberg on Amazon: award-winning novelist, champagne geek, and lavender farmer. Rebecca first fell in love with methode champenoise in Sonoma Valley, California. Over decades of delicious research, she has explored the wine cellars of France, Spain, Italy, and California in search of fine champagne.
When Rebecca discovered the real-life stories of the Champagne Widows of France, she knew she’d dedicate years to telling the stories of these remarkable women who made champagne the worldwide phenomenon it is today.
Rebecca is a champagne historian, tour guide, and champagne cocktail expert for Breathless Wines. Other award-winning novels include The Secret Life of Mrs. London and Gold Digger, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.
My Opinion:
This is my third book book by the author having read Champagne Widows and Gold Digger. Like them it did not disappoint.
When the book opens our heroine is dealing with the death of her husband, the need to care for her children and the overwhelming how am I going to do it of it all. But was we all know, never underestimate a woman. Especially a woman who has a passion.
And have a passion she did. That passion led her to greatness. Thanks to Ms. Rosenberg we can go along for the ride – from her initial struggles with bankers unwilling to help, males who scoffed at picking up a finger to help a mere woman, and of course dealing with such a minor issue as Napoleon’s War.
Through it all Mme. Pommery pushed through and held fast and Brut Champage was born. Her story is one that will keep you turning the pages and wanting to know more about a beverage you probably never gave as much as bubbles thought to. Yet it is a fascinating tale of resilience and love.
Rating:
4.5
