The Champagne Letters

DEBUT A year after her divorce, Natalie is trying to put her life back together. On impulse, she flees Chicago for Paris and checks into an expensive boutique hotel, where she is befriended by Sophie, a hotel employee who gives her recommendations for a hairdresser, places to shop, and special things to see in Paris. In a book stall by the Seine, Natalie finds a volume of the collected letters of Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, the woman known for creating one of France’s premier champagne producers in the early 19th century, after the death of her husband and collaborator. Natalie dives into the book and comes to admire the Widow Clicquot’s life. At a café, Natalie bumps into a man who is also staying at her hotel. He turns out to be a wine expert who knows Paris, and he wines and dines Natalie until her head spins. But when he disappears, Natalie realizes she has been conned. She musters the courage to go after him and gains some self-confidence in the process. MacIntosh writes a fascinating story about women of the past and the present, with chapters alternately narrated by Natalie and Madame Clicquot.