The French House by Helen Fripp (english readers TXT) 📗

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I hope you loved The French House as much as I enjoyed writing it. Nicole’s determination and drive struck everyone she met, and I’ve loved breathing life into her once more, along with her (real and imagined) band of allies, renegades, misfits and rebels. As I wrote and researched, I was enchanted by the alchemy of winemaking and the vineyards, fascinated by the French Revolution and intrigued by the year of the comet champagne.

Nicole Clicquot was a remarkable woman. She came from a wealthy family and had absolutely no financial need to keep the vineyards and business going, but we know from historical records that she was obsessed with it, often staying up to the early hours, poring over ledgers and thinking about ways in which she could improve production.

She was deeply in love with her husband, François, and there are historical accounts of them riding out side by side to oversee the vineyards together. Nicole was also a highly respected ‘nose’ and could take her place alongside the very best in this profession, discerning which blends would make the best wines.

What motivated her in her endeavour? It would not have been easy for a woman to go it alone in a man’s world of business and wine. Why did she not just re-marry and settle into a life of ease with her family in Reims? It was these questions that set my imagination alight as I delved into the company archives, courtesy of Veuve Clicquot Krug Ruinart in Reims. Here, I found original correspondence between Nicole and her ebullient and faithful star salesman Louis Bohne. There were the neat accounts ledgers she kept, written in her own hand, with her notes in the margin, noting all the highs and lows of the business. There was even a letter written to her granddaughter, advising her how important it was to always be ‘bold and audacious’ in everything she did.

Armed with this first-hand material, I walked the chalky paths amongst the vines, visited her rustic house and press in Bouzy and the grand family mansion in Reims, strolled along the banks of the river Vesle rendered a pale green by the chalk soil, and imagined her story.

I have worked hard to ensure the accuracy of historical events and place, but I have also played with chronology and facts in places, and of course this is a work of fiction, inspired by her story. And what an inspiration! Over two hundred years later, Veuve Clicquot is an international luxury brand with a reputation for producing some of the finest champagnes in the business.

If you enjoyed the book, I’d love it if you would write a review. It makes such a difference helping new readers to discover my books for the first time.

I’d be delighted to hear from you, too – you can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website.

Thanks,

Helen Fripp

www.helenfrippauthor.co.uk

Bibliography

Biggs, Charlotte, A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners, T. N. Longman, 1797

de Brissac, Elvire, Imaginary Journey around Barbe Nicole Ponsardin Veuve Clicquot 1777–1866, Éditions Grasset & Fasquelle, 2010

Busby, James, Esq, Journal of a Recent Visit to the Principal Vineyards of Spain and France, Smith, Elder and Co., 1834

Conner, Susan P., Public Virtue and Public Women: Prostitution in Revolutionary Paris, 193-1794, The John Hopkins University Press, 1994

Cronin, Vincent, Napoleon, HarperCollins, 1971

Doyle, William, The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2001

Ducamp, Emmanuel and Walter, Marc, The Summer Palaces of the Romanovs, Thames and Hudson, 2012

Epstein, Becky Sue, Champagne, Reaktion Books, 2011

Faith, Nicholas, The Story of Champagne, Hamish Hamilton Ltd, 1988

Gastine, L., Madame Tallien, Notre Dame de Thermidor. From the last days of the French Revolution Until her Death as Princess de Chimay in 1835, Translated from the French by J. Lewis May, John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1923

Guy, Kolleen M., Drowning Her Sorrows: Widowhood and Entrepreneurship in the Champagne Industry, University of Texas at San Antonio, 1997

Guy, Kolleen M., ‘Oiling the Wheels of Social Life’, Myths and Marketing in Champagne in the Belle Epoque, Duke University Press and Society for French Historical Studies, 1999

Le Baron Ponsardin, Société des Amis du Vieux Reims, 1952

Levy, Darline Gay; Applewhite, Harriet Branson; Durham Johnson, Mary, Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795, University of Illinois Press, 1979

Mazzeo, Tilar J., The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It, Harper Perennial, 2008

Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia: Napoleon’s Conqueror, Translated from the French by Joan Pinkham, Grove Press, 1982

Uzane, Octave, Fashion in Paris: The Various Phases of Taste and Aesthetics in Paris from 1797 to 1897, William Heinemann, 1898

Texts from Veuve Clicquot Krug Ruinart

The Roots of a Historic Vineyard, The House of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, 2012

Une Promenade dans le Petit Marais Rémois, 2005

The 1811 Comet, Veuve Clicquot Heritage, 2014

A Voyage to a Triumphant Return in Russia Summer 1814, Veuve Clicquot Heritage, 2014

Acknowledgements

With warmest thanks to Nick for being there; Katja Willemsen for being a brilliant collaborator and all-round pixie; my editor, Ellen Gleeson, for her insights; my agent, Kiran Kataria, for believing in me; Isabelle Pierre from Veuve Clicquot Krug Ruinart for her invaluable help and access to the archives; Paul MacKenzie-Cummins for my other career, without which this would not have been possible; Christine, Beth, Andrew, Sam and Grace for endless encouragement; Jemima for just being lovely; and to Rosalie and Michael, where it all began.

Published by Bookouture in 2021

An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

www.bookouture.com

Copyright © Helen Fripp, 2021

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