With her mother having been born and raised on the family's vineyard in France, Kate has never wavered in her interest in wine. In an effort to improve her professional sommelier standing, she's begun seriously pursuing the elite Master of Wine credential. Returning to Burgundy to study, Kate comes across her great-aunt Helene's diary written during World War II and gains a new perspective on her family history. A core group of characters in the present and from the past are thoughtfully connected, increasing the impact of old secrets later resolved. The historical portion has the feel of an authentic personal narrative while still providing an understanding of rural French life during the war. Family drama and romantic relationships abound among the contemporary protagonists. Food and wine writer Mah's detailed descriptions of life on a family vineyard, how wine is produced, and how subtle differences in taste are discerned are so robust that a novice wine drinker may progress to aficionado status by the end. VERDICT The author's engaging second novel (after Kitchen Chinese) will delight Francophiles and readers who enjoy historical fiction with a twist by such authors as Lauren Willig or Christina Baker Kline. [See Prepub Alert, 12/11/17.]-Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A wine expert in training visits her family's vineyard in Burgundy only to discover a cellar full of secrets.Kate Elliott, a San Francisco sommelier and daughter of a French expatriate, is preparing for a notoriously difficult wine-tasting exam. If she passes (most don't), she will be one of a tiny cadre of certified Masters of Wine worldwide. She has repeatedly flunked the test; her weakness is French whites, so some serious cramming at Domaine Charpin, her ancestral vineyard, is in order. There, Kate rejoins Heather, her best friend from college, who married her cousin Nico, the Domaine's current vintner. Kate herself almost wed a vigneron, Nico's neighbor Jean-Luc, but feared being trapped in domesticity. Decluttering the family caves, Kate and Heather discover the World War II-era effects of one Hlne Charpinher great half-aunt, Kate learns. Why, then, do the Charpins, particularly dour Uncle Philippe, seem determined to excise Hlne from family memory? Interspersed with Kate's first-person narration are excerpts from Hlne's wartime diary, which her descendants have yet to find. A budding chemist whose university plans were dashed by the German invasion of France, Hlne and her best friend, Rose, who is Jewish, are recruited by the Resistance. Hlne's father, Edouard, is also a Rsistant, unbeknownst to her stepmother, who embraces the new status quo. In the present, the little Kate is able to glean from the historical archives reveals that Hlne was punished as a collaborator, one of the women whose heads were shaved, post-Occupation, as a badge of shame. An extensive subplot, concerning a hidden wine cache and another sommelier's duplicity, adds little, whereas the central questionwhat is up with the Charpins?is sadly underdeveloped. The apparent estrangement not only between the Charpins and Philippe's sister Cline, Kate's mother, but between mother and daughter remains unexplored. Wine buffs will enjoy the detailed descriptions of viticulture and the sommelier's art. Mah deserves credit at least for raising a still-taboo subjectthe barbaric and unjust treatment of accused female collaborators after the Allied liberation of France.An unusual but imperfectly realized blend of trivia and tragedy. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Mah, a food and travel writer, brings her love of food and knowledge of wine-making to bear in her second novel, a charismatic blend of mystery, romance, and post-WWII French history. Kate is studying for her third and final attempt at passing the famously difficult master of wine exam. She travels to Burgundy for a few weeks of study at the vineyard that has been in her family for generations but which she has long avoided. There she and her cousin's wife discover a huge cache of bottles of decades-old wine valuable vintages hidden by her grandfather during the Resistance. To their shock, they also find evidence that a never-mentioned great aunt may have been a Nazi sympathizer. Weaving in and out of these plot threads is Kate's reunion with Jean-Luc, her first love, whom she left 10 years earlier, unable to commit to life as a winemaker's wife in rural France. Mah's engaging story resonates on many levels and will appeal to readers who enjoy the family sagas of Kate Morton and Kristin Hannah.--Donovan, Deborah Copyright 2018 Booklist