"This is the heart of Barbe-Nicole's story. A woman who lived with audacity and intelligence, who could look forward to the future and grasp the reins of her own destiny at a moment in her life when the natural thing to do would have been to retreat into grief and misery and a paralysis of inaction"- p 181This is the story of a woman whose life spanned almost four revolutions in France over her 91 years. Barbe-Nicole Cliquot Ponsardin aka "The Widow Cliquot" bucked every expectation of a woman of her time (1777-1866) and became a wealthy entrepreneur in a world where women married well and retreated from society Widowed at 27, she found a head for business and with the power as a widow, built the empire of Cliquot and changed the world of wine, riding the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, marketing and labels, riddling racks to clear wine, copyrighting, blockade running...an adventurous life for a woman alone with children to raise. By the time of her death she had long outlived almost her whole family and left the most prominent Champagne Houses on earth.I was captivated by this book's premise when it was first discussed on NPR in 2008. Recently, a piece of it was shared on the non fiction site delancyplace.com and I found a copy and quickly added it to the TBR pile. It may be non-fiction history, but it reads like a contemporary novel thanks in part to Tilar Mazzeo's glorious words. Well worth picking up. Interesting story and fascinating history. It's amazing that the story of one of the most successful an powerful women of the 19th century, a women who defined and revolutionized an industry, would be so unknown. And even harder to research. The writing is good and accessible. It's not exactly a page turner like a great novel but my sense is it's well written for a biography (not a big non-fiction reader)
What do You think about Widow Cliquot (2008)?
Superb! Who knew the best champagne was started by the first business woman. #girlpower
—takeitlikeamanda
Dry. And not in a good way like champagne.
—jennyann2727
