SANTA ROSA --

Copperfield’s Books welcomes friend and local author Rebecca Rosenberg to Montgomery Village in celebration of the newest book in her Champagne Widows series - Madame Pommery: Creator of Brut Champagne

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

This event is free and open to the public.

Champagne, France, 1860. Madame Pommery, an etiquette teacher and orphanage founder, loses her husband and is forced to support her family. With no experience, the forty-year-old widow decides to make champagne. Her unique vision is to change it from a sweet dessert beverage to a dry, crisp wine to be enjoyed anytime. When champagne makers refuse to teach her their craft, she forges ahead on her own and secretly begins the excavation of champagne caves under the Reims city dump.

Soon after, her son and her entire crew are conscripted to fight the Franco-Prussian war, leaving Madame Pommery alone to struggle with her champagne dreams. After Napoleon and a hundred thousand French troops are captured, the Prussians invaded France, and Prussian General Frederick Franz occupies Madame Pommery's house as his army headquarters. Undaunted, Pommery uses her secret wine caves to hide the Francs-Tireurs, resistance fighters for France, while she plans to build a spectacular castle winery above the caves.

But when her former lover, a Scottish Baron, unexpectedly proposes marriage, Madame Pommery must choose between nobility and her passionate quest for fine champagne and the most beautiful winery in the world.

Based on a true story, Madame Pommery is a heroic novel about a mother and widow who fights the Prussians, the social class system, champagne patriarchs, and champagne tastes to create a champagne legacy.

Author: Rebecca Rosenberg is a champagne geek, lavender farmer, and award-winning novelist of five books. When Rebecca discovered the real-life stories of the Champagne Widows of France, she knew she’d dedicate years to telling the stories of these remarkable women who revolutionized champagne. Rebecca is a champagne historian, tour guide, and champagne cocktail expert as well as a speaker for the Women’s History Alliance. Other award-winning books include Lavender Fields of America, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, and Gold Digger, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor.