Loire Valley, 1895. When seventeen-year-old Sara Thibault's father is killed in a mudslide, her mother sells their vineyard to a rival family whose eldest son marries Sara's sister, Lydia. But a violent tragedy compels Sara and her sister to flee to New York, forcing Sara to put aside her dream to follow in her father's footsteps as a master winemaker. Meanwhile, Philippe Lemieux has arrived in California with the ambition of owning the largest vineyard...

From the bestselling author of "Chocolat" comes a sensual literary concoction of tragedy, secrets, and the relationship between a daughter and her mother. Returning to the small Loire village of her childhood to run a cafe, Franboise Dartigen soon finds that hidden among her mother's recipes are clues that will lead her to the truth of long ago.

"Middle-aged Englishman and B&B owner Richard Ainsworth is living a quiet life in the Val de Follet--and that's the way he likes it. His quiet routine is suddenly disrrupted when scandal erupts in the nearby town of Saint-Sauver by way of its famous restaurant being downgraded from three 'Michelin' stars to two. The restaurant is shamed, the town is in shock and the leading goat's cheese supplier drowns himself in one of his own pasteurisation tanks....

Christmas guest: Grandmama arrives on a holiday visit to the home of Charlotte's parents, where a fellow guest--an outcast from her own family--is subsequently murdered. Christmas secret: Dominic Corde is thrilled to fill the robe as substitute vicar in the village of Cottisham, while the Reverend Wynter is away on a three-week Christmas holiday. However, it turns out that the Reverend Wynter isn't on holiday at all-and that something very sinister...