Blog Tour: Madame Pommery (Champagne Widow#2) by Rebecca Rosenberg: A Book Review

Madame Pommery (Champagne Widow #2) by Rebecca Rosenberg

Publication Date: March 21, 2023

Lion Heart Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: This book was given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, crisp wine to be enjoyed anytime. When champagne makers refuse to teach her their craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of champagne caves under the Reims city dump.

     Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, the Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies Madame Pommery’s house as his army headquarters. Undaunted, Pommery uses her secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for France, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above the caves.

     But when her former lover, a Scottish Baron, unexpectedly proposes marriage, Madame Pommery must choose between nobility and her passionate quest for fine champagne and the most beautiful winery in the world.

     Based on a true story, Madame Pommery is a heroic novel about a mother and widow who fights the Prussians, the social class system, champagne patriarchs, and champagne tastes to create a champagne legacy.

     "The sun-drenched vineyards of France, a real-life heroine who against all odds refuses to give up her dreams... and champagne. What's not to love?” Barbara Davis, Best-selling author of The Echo of Old Books

My Review:

Madame Pommery is a forty-one year-old widow who is left to raise a young daughter and support her adult son through college. In order to support herself financially, she decides to sell off her struggling wool business to make champagne. She wants to attempt what no other champagne maker has ever done before by adding less sugar. Even though her business prospect is risky, she is determined that her vision will succeed. However, there are many obstacles that stand in her way including war and love. Madame Pommery must overcome these challenges to establish her legacy in the champagne industry.

Madame Pommery is an admirable figure. Even though she took over her husband’s wine business, she still had to start from scratch because many of her husband’s workers left the winery, and she wanted to create a different type of champagne. Therefore, Madame Pommery was tenacious, a risk taker, and a visionary. She never gave up on pursuing her dream. She also found the right people who helped make her champagne a success. Thus, Madame Pommery was a pioneering figure because she revolutionized the champagne industry.

Overall, this novel is about dreams, family, and change. The message of this book is to never stop chasing after your dreams. While Madame Pommery is a well-developed character, many others are flat. I also found the romance aspect to be unnecessary. I also found it unconvincing that she had many suitors fighting over her. Despite these flaws, it was a fast-paced novel that was filled with historical detail. My favorite part was her entrepreneurship and how she established a successful business. Madame Pommery was an enthralling read of a fascinating woman whose story I had not heard before. Therefore, I am very interested in learning more about her. I recommend this novel for fans of The French House, The Winemakers, and The Winemaker’s Wife!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amazon

About the Author

 

     California native Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where she and her husband founded the largest lavender product company in America. A long-time student of Jack London’s work and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian, Rosenberg is a graduate of the Stanford Writing Certificate Program. Her books include: GOLD DIGGER, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, Lavender Fields of America, and the Champagne Widows series.

     For more information, please visit Rebecca's website and blog. You can also find her on Amazon, BookBub,  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Giveaway

     Enter to win a Champagne Swag pack including champagne earrings, champagne jellybeans, and champagne ornament.

     The giveaway is open to the US only and ends on April 21st. You must be 18 or older to enter.

Madame Pommery