Author Attempts to Keep Website Updated

Queen of Research...

July 19, 2010

Tags: ...in warm, sunny places with drinks

Lisa has posted a comment on my July 16 blog (God bless you, Lisa) suggesting I might have had a fine old time researching The House of Peine or House of Daughters as it is called in the US. She is correct. I had two lengthy trips to the Champagne region of France which is about an hour and a half's drive out of Paris if you are a normal person or a six hour drive if you are me and have two maps none of which feature the bit of France you happen to be in. I stayed with the Tarlant family near Epernay - they make amazing artisan champagne and have done so since 1697. Four or five generations of the Tarlant family get together every year to choose the blend for their still wine which then ferments a second time to become bubbly. It's delicious and what's more, you can actually get it in New Zealand. I never saw it in the US but my friend Rick lives on East 20th St in NYC (between Park Avenue and Broadway) and the wine store in his block sells Diebolt Vallois, a chardonnay-only champagne of the best quality, which is also a family champagne house I went to visit. I am a terrific bore on the subject of champagne. In fact, sometimes the only way to shut me up is to give me a glass.

Comments

  1. July 23, 2010 6:37 PM EDT
    OH wow... I just finished your book "House of Peine" this morning!!! PLEASE tell me you are planning a sequel?? We have only just got to know the girls and the vines! Book 2 could introduce Amelie, an evolving relationship with Benoit, the sisters struggles and successes in bringing Peine Champagne back into the Top 3 list... oh the possibilities! Well, I I wait to hear if I can hold out for a continuing story (research assistant available on request also!!), which book would you recommend I read next? :-) Have a great day
    - Lisa Evans

Post a comment

Selected Works

Fiction
Dolci di Love
When childless Lily Turner finds out her perfect husband has a secret family in Tuscany she goes there to find him and chop him into a thousand tiny pieces – but an underground league of Italian widows hell-bent on mending broken hearts has other plans.
On Top Of Everything
Florence Dowling believes rotten things happen in threes so when she loses her job and her husband in the space of a single day, she knows there's worse to come. *US readers see BOOKS page to find out about getting a copy of this book.
House of Daughters
US version of The House of Peine. Mathilde, Clementine and Sophie have nothing in common except the champagne that runs in their blood. But is that enough?
The House of Peine
Three estranged sisters battle it out among the vineyards of France when they inherit a failing Champagne House.
Eating With The Angels
Life turns sour for a high-falutin' restaurant critic when her romantic Venetian honeymoon turns into a nightmare.
By Bread Alone
“Witty, charming, faithfully passionate to its subject and emotionally adept. If only this book was a man.”
-Sunday Star Times
Blessed Are the Cheesemakers
“In the spirit of Chocolat...a tender love story told through the medium of cheese.”
-Publishers Weekly
Finding Tom Connor
“A cross between Bridget Jones’s Diary and Waking Ned Devine, this is a romantic and rollicking good read.”
-Next Magazine
Short Stories
Bosom Buddies
A collection of entertaining, powerful & thought-provoking short stories by some of the finest contemporary writers in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Non-Fiction
The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life
A smorgasbord of columns from the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly’s favourite columnist.