THE CHATEAU Author:STEPHEN COULTER WHEN FRANCIS GAUTIER BRINGS HIS YOUNG AMERICAN BRIDE SUSANNAH TO THE CHATEAU LA GUICHE IN BORDEAUX, SHE SOON REALIZES IT IS NO ORDINARY HOUSE--FOR THE CHATEAU IS THE HEART OF THE GAUTIER FAMILY'S VINEYARDS, THE ONLY SOURCE OF THEIR INCOME, A PROPERTY WHOSE WEALTH IS MEASURED IN GRAPE HARVESTS, VINTAGES AND THE ENDLESS BARRELS OF BORDEAUX WINE TH... more »AT BEAR THE NAME "LA GUICHE." HERE, IN THIS STRANGE WORLD OF SHARP COMMERCE, OF THE ANCIENT TRADITIONS OF WINEMAKING, OF INTENSE RIVALRY AND COMPETITION, SUSANNAH BEGINS TO EXPLORE HER DOMAIN AND TO REALIZE THAT HER HUSBAND IS A ROMANTIC DREAMER, AND HIS FAMILY IMPLACABLY OPPOSED TO THE MARRIAGE--AND TO HER.
CHARMING, BEAUTIFUL AND PASSIONATE, SUSANNAH, SPEAKING OUT WITH AMERICAN DIRECTNESS RIDING UNACCOMPANIED OVER THE GREAT ESTATES, INVOLVING HERSELF WITH AN IRISH ADVENTURER WHOSE BAD REPUTATION IS EQUALED ONLY BY HIS DASHING SPIRIT AND GOOD LOOKS, SOON CREATES A SCANDAL IN THE PLACID BOURGEOIS SOCIETY OF BORDEAUX. ALONE IN A HOSTILE WORLD, CAUGHT UP IN FAMILY QUARRELS THAT THREATEN TO DESTROY HER, SHE PLUNGES FROM ONE SCANDAL TO ANOTHER UNTIL A CRISIS DRAWS UPON HER NATIVE STRENGTH AND COMMON SENSE: AS THE VINES SICKEN--THE GRAPES DISEASED AND ROTTINE--IT IS SUSANNAH WHO HOLDS TOGETHER THE FAMILY'S HERITAGE, WHO LABORS TO SAVE THE WINE ON WHICH THE FORTUNE AND REPUTATION OF LA GUICHE DEPEND, WHO FINALLY SAMES THE CHATEAU...IMPETUOUS, STRONG, FORCED TO ACT FOR HER WEAK AND INEFFECTUAL HUSBAND, SUSANNAH, MATURED AND WISER, SETS OUT TO MAKE OF LA GUICHE A GREAT AND NOBLE VINEYARD, TO FOUND ON ITS LANDS A NEW DYNASTY OF GAUTIERS, TO MAKE THE CHATEAU THE SYMBOL OF A GREAT VINTAGE, A NAME OF WORLDWIDE FAME.
THE CHATEAU IS A NOVEL IN THE GREAT TRADITION OF R.F. DELDERFIELD'S EPIC SWANN FAMILY SAGA, A METICULOUSLY DETAILED, SOARING AND BRILLIANTLY READABLE NOVEL, FULL OF THE DETAIL AND EXCITEMENT OF A LITTLE-KNOWN BUT FASCINATING BUSINESS AND CARFT, RICH IN HISTORY AND FACT, MOVING WITH THE SPEED AND TENSION OF FICTION ON THE GRAND SCALE.« less