by Ann Mah
The excitement would come later with the pop of a cork, and the fizz of Champagne. It would come with Jennifer’s heartfelt emotion as she declared, “I’m proud of you, my girl.” It would come with Jean-Luc’s whoop of delight, with a hug that would lift me off my feet, with his whispered words telling me that his belief in me would never waver. It would come with a stream of congratulatory messages—of handshakes and hugs, emails and Facebook messages, bouquets of flowers and many, many bottles of wine. But now, as I waited for the news to sink in, I thought of the land, of the faint striated pattern of vineyard rows running to the village below, the crumble of cherished soil underfoot, the soft chartreuse of clustered grapes peeping through a screen of foliage. Burgundy, the place I had loved and resisted for so many years—it was calling for me, it was waiting for me, my once and future home.
Acknowledgments
In researching life in Occupied France, I relied on many histories, memoirs, and films. In particular, I found inspiration in the facts and insights of Wine and War by Don Kladstrup and Petie Kladstrup, which offers a fascinating account of all the French wine regions during World War II. A Train in Winter by Caroline Moorehead, A Cool and Lonely Courage by Susan Ottaway, and Fashion Under the Occupation by Dominique Veillon reveal the courageous—and often forgotten—role of French women during the war. Outwitting the Gestapo by Lucie Aubrac and Resistance and Betrayal by Patrick Marnham were invaluable in imagining Hélène’s Resistance circuit and creating the details of her capture. For information about horizontal collaborators and the épuration sauvage, I referred to Year Zero by Ian Buruma, Women and the Second World War in France, 1939–1948 by Hanna Diamond, and the Alain Resnais film Hiroshima mon amour.
I am indebted to the memoir Resistance by Agnès Humbert, whose story so profoundly moved me, I found it haunting my dreams. The character of Hélène is deeply influenced by Humbert, and Hélène’s final words to her brothers are inspired by her book.
My heartfelt thanks and gratitude go to my agent, Deborah Schneider, Francophile, wine lover, and unwavering champion. My tireless and brilliant editor, Katherine Nintzel, shaped this book with her perceptive insights and the story is infinitely richer because of her. My thanks to the team at William Morrow—Kaitlyn Kennedy, Kaitlin Harri, Lynn Grady, Liate Stehlik, Stephanie Vallejo, and Vedika Khanna—for their enthusiasm and support. I am also grateful to the team at Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners and Curtis Brown UK—Penelope Burns, Enrichetta Frezzato, Cathy Gleason, and Claire Nozieres.
For their sharp eyes and suggestions, I thank my early readers: Meg Bortin, Allie Larkin, Kathleen Lawrence, Laura Neilson, Susan Hans O’Connor, Amanda Patten, Hilary Reyl, Steve Rhinds, Lucia Watson, and my parents, Adeline Yen Mah and Robert Mah, who have read this book almost as many times as I have.
For information on the wine trade, high school chemistry, and/or French bureaucracy, I am grateful to Josh Adler, Jérôme Avenas, Gesha-Marie Bland, Claire Fong, and Adrian Thompson. Any inaccuracies in this novel are mine alone.
My experience volunteering at the Champagne harvest of 2015 first inspired this story, and I am grateful to Anne Malassagne and Antoine Malassagne of AR Lenoble for warmly welcoming me to their vineyards and cuverie, as well as Christian Conley Holthausen, who is a font of wine knowledge and good cheer.
To Shamroon Aziz I owe an immeasurable debt for giving me the space and time to write every day without worry.
My love and thanks to Christopher Klein, who read these chapters before they were a book and encouraged me to keep going—and who always knows the right moment to open a bottle of wine.
About the Author
ANN MAH is the author of Mastering the Art of French Eating and Kitchen Chinese. She is a regular contributor to the New York Times travel section, and her articles have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, The Best American Travel Writing 2017, Vogue.com, BonAppetit.com, and Washingtonian magazine, among other publications. She lives in Paris and Washington, D.C.
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Also by Ann Mah
Mastering the Art of French Eating: From Paris Bistros to Farmhouse Kitchens, Lessons in Food and Love
Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family, and Finding Yourself
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE LOST VINTAGE. Copyright © 2018 by Ann Mah. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mah, Ann, author.
Title: The lost vintage : a novel / Ann Mah.
Description: New York, NY : William Morrow, [2018] |
Identifiers: LCCN 2017046029 (print) | LCCN 2017048583 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062823335 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062823311 (hardback) | ISBN 9780062823328 (paperback) | ISBN 9780062845788 (large print)
Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Literary. | FICTION / Contemporary Women. | FICTION / Historical.
Classification: LCC PS3613.A34923 (ebook) | LCC PS3613.A34923 L67 2018 (print) | DDC 813/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017046029
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Digital Edition JUNE 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-282333-5
Version 04242018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-282331-1 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-06-285382-0 (international edition)
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