Alex Michaelides has again written a complex novel with numerous twists and turns and a crazy ending. Ex-movie star Lana Farrar takes her husband Jason and teen son Leo to her private Greek island for Easter. Also included were friends Elliot and Kate, and housekeeper Agathi. The story is told by an unreliable narrator and unfolds across five acts - like a Greek tragedy. Just wait until the end! We enjoyed a 2022 Semeli Moschofilero and Sauvignon Blanc white blend that was vibrant and floral while discussing the colorful history of Greece, the mythology, and its wines.

Taking us back into 1942 France during the German occupation, this historical novel by Kristin Harmel was published in 2020. Eva Traube and her mother were escaping Poland through France to Switzerland after her father was sent to Auschwitz. Eva assisted a French underground forgery operation by creating new names and papers for children smuggled into Switzerland. Within encoded text, she and fellow forgery expert Remy documented the “lost names” of the children in a book. In 2005 an 86-year-old Eva returns to Berlin to find the book and encounters an old friend. With a nod to the French/Switzerland border where most of the novel took place, we enjoyed a white alpine wine from Famille Richel, made from the unique Jacquère grape.

In this 2021 novel by Allison Larkin we follow the story of April Sawicki, a young songwriter and waitress born in a small town in New York. Abandoned by her mother and mistreated by her father, she left her cafe job at age 16 to look for a better life. From New York to Florida to North Carolina, April assembles her own family that she always wanted. We enjoyed a Dr. Konstantin Frank semi-dry Riesling. In 1958, Dr. Frank planted the first vinifera vines in New York and was instrumental in New York planting and selling wine grapes.