Review: Champagne Widows: The First Woman of Champagne by Rebecca Rosenberg

EDITORS CHOICE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY This engrossing historical novel by Rebecca Rosenberg follows Veuve Clicquot, a strong-minded woman determined to defy the Napoleon Code and become a master champagne maker. In 1800 France, twenty-year-old Barbe-Nicole inherits her great-grandfather’s uncanny sense of smell and uses it to make great champagne, despite the Code prohibiting women from owning a business. When tragedy strikes and she becomes a Veuve (widow), she must grapple with a domineering partner, the complexities of making champagne, and the aftermath of six Napoleon wars. When she falls in love with her sales manager, Louis Bohne, she must choose between losing her winery to her husband to obey the Napoleon Code, or losing Louis. In the ultimate showdown, Veuve Clicquot defies Napoleon himself, risking prison and even death. If you enjoyed books like ‘The Widow of the South’ by Robert Hicks or ‘The Paris Seamstress’ by Natasha Lester, you’ll love ‘Veuve Clicquot’.

My Review

In this book, we follow the varied successes and failures of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, whose uncanny nose for scents—Le Nez—leads her to establish a faltering winery against all odds. She and her PTSD-afflicted husband struggle to make the business work, but his ultimate death from typhus and finally suicide leaves her a guilt-ridden widow with a young daughter:

The priest moves his mouth, but no words reach my ears. Family and friends pass by, uttering condolences.

The only one I hear is Philippe’s. “François wanted too much for you. He wasn’t up to it.”

He blames me for destroying his family. I pushed François too hard.

In many ways, this becomes the overriding thread of her life. Driven relentlessly, refusing to admit defeat, she overcomes the strictures against women owning businesses in Napoleonic France. She resists her business partner’s attempts to marry her, because she would have to give up ownership to a husband. When finally, she gives in to her love for another, she is too late and has driven him away. Her only solace is the business itself, which is nearly bankrupted more than once because of Napoleon’s war, which turns other countries against France and forbids exports. And this is regardless of the fact that she produces the best champagne in the world. Interspersed with Clicquot’s troubles, we witness the rise and fall of the Emperor, along with touching references to Josephine, who favors Barbe-Nicole even after her unhappy divorce.

Napoleon doesn’t come across favorably, and from Clicquot’s perspective, he is totally evil: “Someone has to beat the Little Devil, Papa. He’s killing our men and our trade. He will stop at nothing to rule Europe, and we pay the price.” Ultimately, this is a story of survival against all odds, though even after Napoleon’s defeat, I was left feeling hollow and dissatisfied. Perhaps there is no happy ending, and success isn’t enough to make a person whole.

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BSTJPZX3
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BSTJPZX3
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0BSTJPZX3
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BSTJPZX3

Meet Rebecca Rosenberg

Rebecca Rosenberg is an 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.