A riveting, behind-the-scenes portrait of a high-drama industry, from the chateau to the corner office…pour a glass and dive in.”
—Oprah Daily
"So intoxicatingly real and so, so smart and moving, Wildgen’s novel plumbs the depths of female friendship through the lives of two indelible characters: outsider Wren and golden girl Thessaly, who both enter the wine business as young women, fiercely bond, and then go into business together. Grappling with who they really were and who they now are meant to be, both together and apart, this is a stunner about ambition, love, and family. Wine connoisseurs, foodies, and literature lovers will be enraptured."
—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You
“Wildgen beautifully captures the shifting feelings and perspectives of a long friendship evolving over time, even as she illuminates a little-known corner of wine culture. An intriguing read!”
—Andrea Barrett, National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever and Natural History
"An intoxicating story of friendship, workplace politics, entrepreneurship, and, of course, the elixir of the Gods, Wine People is all the wine metaphors and then some. Savor it.”
—Elisa Albert, author of Human Blues
“I blazed through this novel—a complicated, authentic examination of female ambition and friendship that also happens to be such fun to read.”
—Vauhini Vara, author of The Immortal King Rao
“Wine People follows wine professionals Wren and Thessaly as they compete to become the heirs of a retiring New York City importer—but it's just as much about what happens after that. In sharp, sensory prose, Wildgen takes us from Madison, Wisconsin and Sonoma, California to Italy, France, and beyond. In her hands, wine is many things at once: a sometimes-destroyer of relationships, yes, but also an ancient art that bottles time and place. Smart and very funny, satirical but deeply felt, Wine People is an ode to the complexity of working friendships—as well as a shrewd, clear-eyed love letter to wine and the people who make, import, and drink it.”
—Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists
06/10/2024
Foodie and novelist Wildgen (Bread and Butter) provides a delectable glimpse into the business of wine import and distribution in her latest. Wren and Thessaly work at Lionel Garrett Wine Imports, two women at a high-end wine company staffed almost entirely by men. Thessaly grew up on a Sonoma vineyard, but she doubts her knowledge of wine and hopes to get more insight into the business. Wren is just trying to rise above her humble beginnings. Despite their differences, both women hold their own as they travel through Europe, tasting the finest wines and socializing with clients while they ply their wares. The wine industry is cutthroat, requiring them to navigate with outward confidence, even when they're plagued by self-doubt and worry. When company head Lionel hints that he plans on stepping down, all of the employees vie to be his successor, no matter the cost. Actor, director, and narrator Christine Lakin provides a clean, even delivery, pleasantly differentiating among the characters. She captures the novel's uplifting tone and will have listeners rooting for both women to land on their feet and accomplish their life's dreams. VERDICT A mouthwatering look into corporate machinations in the wine industry; fans of Miriam Parker's The Shortest Way Home will love it.—Laura Trombley
2023-05-24
Wildgen explores the world of wine through the vicissitudes of two women's friendship.
Wren works in operations and Thessaly in sales at the high-end Lionel Garrett Wine Imports. They are wary colleagues. Self-conscious about her working-class Midwestern origins and single-minded in her commitment to the wine business, Wren considers Thessaly, who grew up on a large vineyard in Sonoma, a “golden girl,” while Thessaly sees Wren as “one of those worker-bee types.” Wren envies Thessaly’s apparent confidence, but actually Thessaly’s confidence is shaky, especially concerning her private ambition to create her own wines—and she has a drinking problem. When Lionel announces he will soon be stepping away from the business without naming his successor, his company becomes a hotbed of competition. Much of the book reads like a tame version of the TV drama Succession as Lionel’s erudite, cultured acolytes backbite and undermine each other over sips of Bordeaux. Despite their mutual distrust, Thessaly and Wren end up joining forces to compete as a team in the otherwise mostly White male establishment. Though they don’t get the job, the women bond personally and professionally, Wren helping Thessaly control her drinking, Thessaly improving Wren’s awkward communication skills and calming her anxiety. But when they open their own business, the existing cracks in their friendship widen. Despite her discerning palate, Wren’s ambition lies in growing her distribution business, which means finding and pushing wines that are easier to sell to a wider audience. Although she’s the gifted salesperson, Thessaly’s ambition is more complicated, more idiosyncratic, and less traditional. Therefore she’s also the more interesting character. Although each woman gets a romance, their lives are defined by their relationships to wine. Wildgen’s eagerness to show and tell the ins and outs of winemaking and wine selling, including examples of chicanery but also nobility, is endearing, but she’s mapped out her plot and main characters too obviously to let the narrative breathe.
Likable and mildly informative but lacks punch.