The French House

Summary

Looking back at the crumbling house hidden away in the vineyards, the sound of her daughter’s laughter carrying on the breeze, Nicole plucks a perfect red grape and is reminded her life will never be the same. With her husband gone, her troubles are hers alone....  For heartbroken Nicole Clicquot, running the winery her husband left behind is the only chance she has to keep a roof over her head and provide a future for her little girl. She won’t listen to the gossips who insist that the rolling fields of chalk soil are no place for a woman.  But as the seasons change, bringing a spoiled harvest and bitter grapes, the vineyards are on the brink of collapse. Without her husband’s oldest friend, travelling merchant Louis, she’d truly be lost. No one else would stay up all night to help count endless rows of green bottles deep in the cellars, or spread word far and wide that Nicole makes the finest champagne he’s ever tasted. One magical night, as a shooting star illuminates their way under a velvet sky, Nicole gazes up at his warm smile and wonders if perhaps she doesn’t need to be quite so alone.... But when Louis shrinks from her touch after returning from a long trip abroad, Nicole fears something is terribly wrong. And as an old secret about her husband - that only Louis knew - spreads from the cobbled village streets all the way to the Paris salons, her heart and fragile reputation are shattered. Was she wrong to put her trust in another man? And with Napoleon’s wars looming on the horizon, can she find a way to save her vineyards, her home, and her daughter from ruin? Fans of Chocolat, Carnegie’s Maid, Dinah Jeffries, and anyone longing to sip champagne under the stars will adore this stunning historical listen, inspired by the true story of how Nicole Clicquot blazed her own path to build the world’s greatest champagne house: Veuve Clicquot.

©2021 Helen Fripp (P)2021 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.