A review by elvang
The Winemakers by Jan Moran
3.0
I enjoyed this generational journey of two women in the wine industry and how the times they lived in shaped their lives. Moran slowly spins a tale of the lives of independent women in the Twenties and the Fifties but what resonated with me were the limited choices both Ava and Caterina faced in the decades portrayed in their stories.
Caterina in the fifties is a single parent working as a Sommelier in a restaurant trying to provide a life for her child until a lawyer informs her of a home in Italy bequeathed to her by her paternal grandmother. She is unable to face her mother Ava, the owner and manager of Mille Etoile winery in Napa Valley, nervous her rigid mother would not accept her illegitimate child. What she discovers in Italy unravels her mother’s past and shows Caterina just how many lies and untruths she has come to believe regarding her mother’s past. How she decides to confront her mother and her connection with the love of her life make for an entertaining read.
Ava, forced by circumstances to make choices unique to women in the Twenties is a survivor and a businesswoman first and foremost. When events from her past rise up to challenge her vineyard her decisions are hampered by the realities of the era in which she lives. Women owning property was unheard of in the Twenties, and the Fifties. The strength of women like Ava, forced into subterfuge to make a life and a business is fully explored in The Winemakers.
The finale does drift into melodrama and the book drags in parts but overall I enjoyed this look at the wine industry and the men and women who brought notoriety and respect for wine produced in the Napa Valley region of California. The author did her research and the story she has crafted is informative and entertaining. What struck home for me were the limited choices faced by business women in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Entrepreneurs were welcome in the USA, as long as they were male.
ARC received with thanks from the publisher via NetGalley.
Caterina in the fifties is a single parent working as a Sommelier in a restaurant trying to provide a life for her child until a lawyer informs her of a home in Italy bequeathed to her by her paternal grandmother. She is unable to face her mother Ava, the owner and manager of Mille Etoile winery in Napa Valley, nervous her rigid mother would not accept her illegitimate child. What she discovers in Italy unravels her mother’s past and shows Caterina just how many lies and untruths she has come to believe regarding her mother’s past. How she decides to confront her mother and her connection with the love of her life make for an entertaining read.
Ava, forced by circumstances to make choices unique to women in the Twenties is a survivor and a businesswoman first and foremost. When events from her past rise up to challenge her vineyard her decisions are hampered by the realities of the era in which she lives. Women owning property was unheard of in the Twenties, and the Fifties. The strength of women like Ava, forced into subterfuge to make a life and a business is fully explored in The Winemakers.
The finale does drift into melodrama and the book drags in parts but overall I enjoyed this look at the wine industry and the men and women who brought notoriety and respect for wine produced in the Napa Valley region of California. The author did her research and the story she has crafted is informative and entertaining. What struck home for me were the limited choices faced by business women in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Entrepreneurs were welcome in the USA, as long as they were male.
ARC received with thanks from the publisher via NetGalley.