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The Winemaker's Wife

The author of the “engrossing” (People) international bestseller The Room on Rue Amélie returns with a moving story set amid the champagne vineyards of France during the darkest days of World War II, perfect for fans of Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Champagne, 1940: Inès has just married Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, when the Germans invade. As the danger mounts, Michel turns his back on his marriage to begin hiding munitions for the Résistance. Inès fears they’ll be exposed, but for Céline, the French-Jewish wife of Chauveau’s chef de cave, the risk is even greater—rumors abound of Jews being shipped east to an unspeakable fate.

When Céline recklessly follows her heart in one desperate bid for happiness, and Inès makes a dangerous mistake with a Nazi collaborator, they risk the lives of those they love—and the vineyard that ties them together.

New York, 2019: Recently divorced, Liv Kent is at rock bottom when her feisty, eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced, insisting on a trip to France. But the older woman has an ulterior motive—and a tragic, decades-old story to share. When past and present finally collide, Liv finds herself on a road to salvation that leads right to the caves of the Maison Chauveau.

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“With exceptional skill, Kristin Harmel constructs The Winemaker’s Wife between the past and the present, giving equal weight and importance to both, all the while weaving a tale full of secrets and betrayals that puts to the test mankind’s strength, fragility and vileness. Once you start reading this moving novel, you will not be able to put it down until you reach the last page.”

Armando Lucas CorreaThe German Girl

“Written in heart-wrenching prose, The Winemaker’s Wife is a complex story of love, betrayal, and impossible courage set in the champagne growing region of France during World War II. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and savored every moment at the same time.”

Anita HughesChristmas in Paris

“What could be better than a story of champagne, secrets, lies, and history from a writer as compulsively readable as Kristin Harmel? Pick up this epic and heart-wrenching WWII tale immediately!”

Alyson NoëlSaving Zoe

“Kristin Harmel is the best there is at sweeping historical drama intertwined with modern-day stories of real, relatable women you can’t stop cheering for. In The Winemaker’s Wife, you’ll fall in love with Ines and Liv, and wish you had a grande dame in your life like Edith, whose depiction is as perfect as her omni-present Kelly bag. As you stay up late reading this novel of the French Champagne region in the midst of the second world war and the generations forever altered by those dark hours, keep a good supply of tissues close, not just for the reading of this gorgeous work, but for that moment when the story ends and your heart soars with the beauty of the telling.”

Kelly HarmsThe Overdue Life of Amy Byler

“The Winemaker’s Wife is a beautifully told, atmospheric story about redemption, heartbreak, resilience, and courage. With evocative prose and a lush setting in a champagne winery, it reminds us of the power of secrets, and the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love.”

Maureen LeurckCicada Summer and Monarch Manor

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