Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Michelle Wildgen for the first time at the bookstore. Wildgen’s latest book is called Wine People. You can order a copy through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3rUqmun
Here’s the summary of Wine People.
A Time Magazine “25 New Books You Need to Read This Summer”
“A riveting, behind-the-scenes portrait of a high-drama industry, from the chateau to the corner office…pour a glass and dive in.”—Oprah Daily
An intoxicating escape into the cutthroat world of wine and the complicated terrain of women’s friendship.
What happens when two ambitious young women, opposite in every way, join forces in a competitive male-dominated industry?
Wren and Thessaly collide when they land coveted jobs at a glamorous New York City boutique wine importer. Hardworking, by-the-book Wren comes from a modest background and has everything to prove while Thessaly hails from a family of prestigious California growers—but she is plagued by self-doubt. Thrown together at work, where they’re expected to have exquisite palates, endless tolerance for alcohol and socializing, and the ability to sell, sell, sell, they regard each other with suspicion.
It’s only on an important European business trip—with everything on the line for both of them—that they unexpectedly forge an alliance that will change the course of their careers and personal lives.
With mouth-watering descriptions of food and wine, Wine People takes readers from France, Germany, and Italy to the Midwest and California Wine Country. An utterly entertaining page-turner that explores how close friends can both misjudge and uplift each other.
Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novels You’re Not You, adapted into a feature film starring Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum, But Not For Long, and Bread and Butter. She is editor of the anthology Food & Booze. Wildgen’s award-winning reviews, essays, and stories have appeared in publications including the New York Times Book Review, the “Modern Love” column, O, the Oprah Magazine, RealSimple.com, Salon.com, Best Food Writing, Best New American Voices, Triquarterly, Storyquarterly, and elsewhere. Formerly executive editor of Tin House, Wildgen is now a freelance editor and cofounder with novelist Susanna Daniel, of the Madison Writers’ Studio.
If you love wine, you’ll want to watch Michelle Wildgen’s conversation with Barbara Peters.