The French Winemaker’s Daughter

A Novel

By: Loretta Ellsworth

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt

Set during World War II, an unforgettable historical novel about love, war, family, and loyalty told in in the voices of two women, generations apart, who find themselves connected by a mysterious and valuable bottle of wine stolen by the Nazis.

1942. Seven-year-old Martine hides in an armoire when the Nazis come to take her father away. Pinned to her dress is a note with her aunt’s address in Paris, and in her arms, a bottle of wine she has been instructed to look after if something happened to her papa. When they are finally gone, the terrified young girl drops the bottle and runs to a neighbor, who puts her on a train to Paris.

But when Martine arrives in the city, her aunt is nowhere to be found. Without a place to go, the girl wanders the streets and eventually falls asleep on the doorstep of Hotel Drouot, where Sister Ada finds her and takes her to the abbey, and watches over her.

1990. Charlotte, a commercial airline pilot, attends an auction with her boyfriend Henri at Hotel Drouot, now the oldest auction house in Paris. Successfully bidding on a box of wine saved from the German occupation during the Second World War, Henri gives Charlotte a seemingly inferior bottle he finds inside the box. Cleaning the label, Charlotte makes a shocking discovery that sends her on a quest to find the origins of this unusual—and very valuable—bottle of wine, a quest that will take her back fifty years into the past. . . .

A powerful tale of love, war, and family, The French Winemaker’s Daughter is an emotionally resonant tale of two women whose fates are intertwined across time. Loretta Ellsworth’s evocative and poignant page-turner will linger in the heart, and make you think about luck, connection, and the meaning of loyalty.

Easy flowing read

I enjoyed the book overall. I didn’t like the obvious theme being ignored by Charlotte and found her denials annoying. Overall an easy read that otherwise flowed well.

i love the historical aspect as well as the most current aspect of the book.

The book going back and forth between history and more current times. The idea is great.

Dislikable Heroine

I’m a fan of Gene Grangers storytelling this is really no exception, except the snarky so tempered and whiny heroine was too much for me. It was distracting.

Good story and plot. Keeps you interested

I could figure out the plot pretty easily but this was a good happy read

A very interesting story!! I learned a lot about Wine!

Well-written. Interesting history. Bit of a mystery. Loved it! I learned a lot about the French wine industry.