The Vineyard

A Novel

By: Barbara Delinsky

Narrated by: Beth Fowler

New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinsky has written her most complex and emotionally rewarding novel yet: a story of two women, a generation apart, each of whose dream becomes bound with the other's.

To her family, Natalie Seebring is a woman who prizes appearances: exquisitely mannered, a supportive wife, and head of a successful wine-producing enterprise. So when she announces plans to marry a vineyard employee mere months after the death of her husband of fifty-eight years, her son and daughter are stunned.

Faced with their disapproval, Natalie decides to write a memoir.

Olivia Jones is a dreamer, living vicariously through the old photographs she restores. She and her daughter, Tess, cling to the fantasy that a big, happy family is out there just waiting for them.

When Natalie hires Olivia to help with her memoir, a summer at Natalie's vineyard by the sea seems the perfect opportunity to live out that fantasy, but all is not as it seems.

As the illusion of an idyllic existence comes crashing headlong into reality, the lives of these two women, parallel in so many ways, become a powerful and moving story.

Predictable, but good for light reading

Mildly interesting story, but the characters lacked ...everything. Only Natalie was fully described, even the main character was left with no real substance. I kept hoping for more background to the tale, but it just ended. Definitely not on of B. Delinsky's better books.

Good Book

Would you listen to The Vineyard again? Why?

I probably would listen to this book again. I enjoyed the reader.

What does Beth Fowler bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoyed her change of voice depicting each character. She was excellent.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was intrigued.

Any additional comments?

Good book, great reader. I enjoyed this book a great deal.

Great book but….

I am only a few chapters in but the main character’s illusions and even lying about her life is so annoying! I will finish but really this grown woman is very immature

Free spirit and matriarch learn from each other

A young, photo-restorer in Boston, a single mother of a dyslexic daughter, dreams about a family vineyard as she restorers the photos depicting the history of the vineyard. When she is about to lose her job, she grabs the chance for her and her daughter to spend the summer on the vineyard writing the memoir of its aging matriarch. The free-spirited, young, single mother and the older selfless matriarch are great foils for each other. Now widowed and almost 80, the matriarch decides to marry the childhood sweetheart she gave up years ago in order to marry a richer man whose capital could build the family vineyard. But her children deeply resent her decision.

Enjoyable

The beginning didn't make me think I would like this book. However, if you stay with it I believe you will find alot of story in this book. BD seems to write this way...there are things that work their way to the surface.Sometimes that seems to take a little longer than some people would like but audio books are pretty much my only entertainment so I don't mind. I liked the characters in this book. The development of the daughter was important to me. I can recommend this book.
May I recommend "Coast Road" by BD, the narration and story have surpassed anything else I have listened to by this author.