The Winemaker's Daughter

by Timothy Egan

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times a stunning first novel that takes us from the wine country of the Pacific Northwest to the vineyards of Italy.

Brunella Cartolano is passionate and high-spirited, an accomplished architect and a daughter of the American West who tends to fall in love with lost causes. While she is trying to protect the Seattle waterfront from development, she also finds her father’s vineyard east of the Cascade Mountains enduring the worst drought in history. Water is the base ingredient of winemaking, and for people who believe in the transformative power of wine, water has become the new petroleum—hoarded and stolen, the target of greed and the source of treachery, even among friends. Brunella struggles to protect her father’s land from a mysterious force—someone who seems to be buying up all the water and driving away the people who work the land. When a wildfire roars out of control and kills a squadron of firefighters, the question of the lack of water becomes ever more urgent for Brunella.

Her search to uncover the real cause of the tragedy will determine where, how, and with whom she will spend her life. It propels this powerful debut novel to a startling conclusion.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery, Book Club, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning author of nine books, including THE WORST HARD TIME, which won the National Book Award. His latest book, A PILGRIMAGE TO ETERNITY, is a personal story, a journey over an ancient trail, and a history of Christianity. He also writes a biweekly opinion column for The New York Times. HIs book on the photographer Edward Curtis, SHORT NIGHTS OF THE SHADOW CATCHER, won the Carnegie Medal for best nonfiction. His Irish-American book, THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN, was a New York Times bestseller. A third-generation native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Seattle.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a long tough read, I kept hoping it would get better but never did. Egan is a great descriptive writer but sorely lacks in character development. The plot was somewhat predictable but left you hanging. Good rough draft Egan, now start the rewrite.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

First the good things:
The novel is set in the Wenatchee Valley and Egan does a nice job of evoking a sense of our place. He has obviously been here and spent some time here. So strange to read two books (unintentionally) nearly back to back that are set in Wenatchee - one totally faked and the other nicely done.

And, I enjoyed Egan's inclusion of Indian humor - or at least what I see as typical Indian humor. Two of my favorite quotes:
p. 119
The [Indian] woman asks Brunella to join them, pointing with open hands to quarts of Diet Coke pitchers of lemonade, fruit pies, flatbread, corn that’s been seared on the fire, bowls of chips.
“As you know, we Indian people come from a long line of Diet Coke drinkers,” the woman tells Brunella, and all the other Indian women laugh. “But before that, before the Europeans came, we were Pepsi drinkers.”

p.106
[Tozzie Creskhawk says] “One day my dad took me up one them ridges you got all fancied up in that coulee there. Said, ‘Take a look, son.’ I looked out. ‘Take a long look, son.’ Yep. Says, ‘One day, none of this will be yours.”

Italophiles will probably like the food and wine parts.

And the bad:
But that was not enough to like this book. I never liked or cared about the characters - the main character Brunella is obnoxious and unconvincing. The plot is convoluted and unconvincing. The omniscient narrator is irritatingly omniscient and unconvincing.

[Kari Bishay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timothy Eagen is a local author of non-fiction; this was his first fiction novel. The story is set in Eastern WA. wine country (coulee country) and in Seattle, which makes it easy to visualize the settings. It is a compelling story, with lots of drama, some intrigue, well-developed characters and a mostly plausible plot. That's where I had some problems - some of the events unfolding were just a bit over-the-top and that interrupted the flow of the story for me. But, I would still recommed reading it! I'm not going to tell you much about the story itself, but it involves winemakers, orchardists, Native Americans, developers (in Ballard!), fishermen, and water rights. Grapes, forest fires, and salmon also play a roll.

[Mary Kiesau · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was fairly disappointed in this book. I used to love anything Tim Egan wrote. This book felt like he was trying overly hard to be Barbara Kingsolver but not doing a very good job. Barbara Kingsolver should have written this book - she would have written the same environmentally and reality-based storyline so much more beautifully and accurately.
(Plus, don't listen to the book. Cassandra Campbell butchers the pronunciation of almost every placename and even the salmon. It was brutal. Are there no editors and coaches for audible editions?!?)

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wine with a view

If you know the Pacific Northwest you will immediately recognize and appreciate the descriptions of the land and city. They are the best part of the book. The end is not -- predictable and trite. In between, the characters are hard to believe, in particular the women act like men (in the bad sense of the term) and the men act strangely, unconvincingly. Even the cats are hard to believe. Only the wine holds true.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wine, Native Americans, Forest Service, The NW, Architecture, the fishing industry - lots of timely topics important to people living the NW.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is wrapped up in the smell of the Yakima Valley where I grew up and the "Coast" as we called it. It is a wonderful story with sun and wine and longing and family. Worth reading.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having grown fond of the writings of Timothy Egan, I read his 2004 novel, The Winemaker’s Daughter, set in Eastern Washington, a landscape familiar to the author. The story shows how “water, the base nutrient of this miracle [of winemaking in the high desert above the Columbia River], would be to the new century what oil had been to the last.” (p. 4)

So, the main characters, in one sense, are elements of nature—water (drought and flooding), soil, and grapes, specifically Nebbiolo grapes, which proved their resistance to blights that wiped out other varieties long ago.

On the other hand, the main character is Brunella Cartolano—smart, impassioned, and sexy. Her supporting cast in the main plot consists of at least seven men—her father Angelo, who pioneered winemaking in the deep, dry ravine above the Columbia River; Niccolo, the son destined to succeed as the winemaker; Roberto, the son who wants to sell his father’s property; Teddy Flax, a neighbor whom Brunella loves; Leon Treadtoofar, the forest ranger; Alvin Kosbleau, a neighbor who hoards water; and Tozzie Cresthawk, a local Indian and fellow smokejumper on the crew with Niccolo and Teddy.

Ah, but there’s an important secondary plot, set in Seattle, where Brunella’s supporting cast includes Ethan Winthrop, Brunella’s boss, who is an eccentric tycoon; a fisherman named Duff Almvik; his nemesis named York Tollefson; and Nolanne and Cindy, mother and daughter who work with Duff on his fishing boat.

Inter-group conflicts play a role in the story: for example, irrigators (for vineyards and orchards) versus Indians (Indigenous residents of the area), tribal rivalries, economic class tensions, intra-ethnic tensions among Scandinavians, and racial prejudices and bigotry.

The characters are colorful and memorable, and the themes are relevant. I enjoyed “being in” Eastern Washington, where some of my in-laws have lived and where I have visited. I have now read all the ten published books by this author. If I must rank them, this novel comes in last, but that’s not to say you wouldn’t like it. Anything by Timothy Egan is worth reading.

[Nancy W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the water in the book, it did not flow, total drought ! I found it tedious and disjointed, the only reason I stuck it out to the end was it is our book club pick. I will be interested to hear what the others thought.

[Cheryl-Smith Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book at a garage sale. The lady who is running the sale said she didn’t remember reading the book and when I told her I was on Goodreads she said she was too. So I promised her I would review the book and she can read it on Goodreads. I like this book but I felt it was more of a travel log than a real mystery story. The characters were a little weak . You didn’t really root for any of them. The premise of the story, the manipulations concerning water rights when there is a drought, was a good one.The author included a confrontation with Native Americans which I found a little disturbing. The plot seemed a bit contrived. But overall I enjoyed the book as I said and give kudos to the author for the beautiful descriptive writing the landscape.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but I found the characters poorly developed, one dimensional and preachy. Their dialog was more like a lecture.

I could not identify with Brunella at all. I am afraid that Timothy Egan has no idea what it feels like to be a woman, especially when it comes to sex.

However, the book is well researched and I'm glad I kept on, as toward the end it did get a little better. I can't say that I would recommend it, though.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had issues. It was like a travelogue with some characters thrown in. None of them were well-developed, and neither was the plot. I also think that the author wrote the main female character as a man more than a woman. You could really tell he is a non-fiction writer trying to write fiction. If I were him, I would stick to non-fiction.

[Correen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing novel, Egan talks about water rights, race relations between Native and white Americans, and Washington's wine industry in a background of sex, lies, and wine drinking. It was an interesting book but not up to the standard of his other writings.

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a true story.... from his grandmother forward. It is a delight and because Tim is such a good writer he weaves a story you will never forget.

[Lora Hein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having previously read "The Big Burn," I wish I had read this one first. Egan's craft is either better suited to making true stories come too life, or improved considerably in the decade that passed between the publication of these two books. Maybe it was a publisher who insisted on the insertion of enough sexual titration to keep the average reader enthralled, but I found it distracting. The deeper reasons for the crises that confronted the vintner were left unexplored in this "who-dun-it" approach to a singular event that unravelled into the larger picture.

Some of the writing was a pure joy to read. Egan captures the emotions of setting fantastically and does a pretty good job of setting out his main characters, each oof them clearly symbolic of wider factions of society. A good read, but not as good as The Big Burn. If you liked this one, give that one a try. It is riveting and true, as well as laying the groundwork from which some of our current crises were seeded and grew.

[Johnny G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is very atmospheric. I have never been to Washington state, and this book covered settings from the Puget Sound to Missoula, Montana, and also, in the best part of the book, northern Italy. The characters gave me a bit of a problem, simply because I couldn’t relate to any one of them... from stubborn firefighters to ornery fishermen to an 80-year old Italian American vintner. I did learn about the winemaking process and how everything has to be just so. In this book, there is a power grab for water, which leads to some horrible actions. But then things come together, the characters are peeled out of the story, and, like a glass of fine wine, I felt satisfied in my armchair late on a Friday night for sticking with this one.

[Kathryn White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating. The author introduced me to an area of the country about which I know very little (but no more!) One of the reviewers labeled the novel an "extended conceit" and I would agree. This is a touchstone novel on an extremely relevant topic. Water in the western United States is a prize commodity and is more valuable than oil. Egan's exploration of issues relating to the allocation of this precious resource was both educational and insightful. I also liked his "dance" with the ideas of urban gentrification along with his parody of certain aspects of those who use their wealth for selfish gain. I highly recommend this novel!

[Amy Lientz]

I am quite surprised this did not receive at least 4 stars. Although this is one of Tim Egan's first novels I found this book still relevant today. It's interplay of waterwars, cultural wars, and development wars was multilayered and deeply insightful. I grew up in Nez Perce country as a fish hatchery not far where this book was based and the research Mr. Egan did to write an honest depiction of the situation at hand was fabulous. Not to mention a great depiction of wine making, what is involved and the challenges a winemaker must endure in this ever changing climate. I love books where there is an intriguing story but you walk away learning so much. Bravo Mr. Egan for a fine novel.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of a sister' quest to find the cause of her brother's death. Her brother was killed fighting a forest fire. The Forest Service produces findings that his brother's incompetence led to his death. His sister Brunella does not buy it. She meanwhile is vetting a project and in the course of it learns that the project may have diverted water that led to her brothers death. All of this produces a run reflex and she takes off for Italy. It takes a bit of swallowing of wine to buy the plot, but ultimately it is a nice story and well worth the read.

[Michael Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I had assumed this was non-fiction (since it was written by Timothy Egan) I soon realized this was his foray into fiction. Nearing the end of the novel I read a couple of reviews that articulated what I also found: the plot jumped and, what I noticed above all, the actions and inclinations of the main character (the winemaker's daughter) simply did not make "sense." They didn't emerge from the author's description of her character (e.g., why was she attracted to the Indian Fire Service employee while eventually betraying him????).

[Prudence Debates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I particularly liked this book because it was set in Seattle & eastern Washington, areas I've been to PLUS the winemaker hails originally from northern Italy, and part of the novel takes place there as well. There is a mystery surrounding the water rights & the tribal rights in WA wine country, and the daughter, Brunella, is trying to figure out what is going on. In addition, she's trying to stop a new development from happening along the shores of an old warehouse district in Seattle.

[Coquille Fleur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting of this novel is super powerful. As a Washington State resident, I recognized most of the places that were described so beautifully and brought this story to life. I love the water connections and the salmon run connections, as well. There is a lot of great plotting and writing in this novel. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because a few way too convenient things happen that made me struggle with suspension of disbelief and it's kinda harsh on the Indians, especially in the beginning. Overall a good read, especially if you are into a strong setting and sense of place.

[Carolyn Logue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a very good story, particularly if you want a fictionalized version of the water rights battle and tribal relations issues in the NW. I agree with the other reviews about the author’s character development. You don’t create a strong female character and then have her want to sleep with everyone (to the uncomfortable point where she is forcing herself on men) - that was just weird and unnecessary. Those words could have been used for more backstory on Angelo and the family’s relationship.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read that kept me interested. The picture of the Northwest that Egan paints is so detailed that I had no problem envisioning what I was reading. The story itself is one that is powerful and not predictable. (The unpredictability was really refreshing!) I loved the way that he weaved the story of so many peoples together and was able to keep it going and then bring it to fruition. Brunella is a strong female lead and I loved being part of her world.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't even know where to start -- I have NOTHING good to say about this book except for the descriptions of the scenery. This is an overwritten and prosaic slog through every Western caricature and cultural or gender stereotype, starting with a gorgeous Italian female main character who tries to basically launches her body on any breathing man within a 10 mile radius. It reads like a thinly disguised Italian porn fantasy trying and failing to comment on major social and cultural issues. Blech. I only finished it because we are having a global pandemic and I was afraid I'd run out of books if I started skipping now.

[Gail Richmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Egan is a practiced and thorough writer, I simply could not get into the story line, with too many political ties as well as family history. I read steadily until half-way through, and then skimmed the rest…feeling like I was cheating the author; however, it just was just too much with not enough plot to keep me going. Even as a wine lover, the detailed everyday happenings were repetitive to be.

[TBos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am an enormous fan of Timothy Egan and on a mission to read everything he has written. I will just say that his later works based on fact and meticulous research far surpass this story written with dialogue I cannot imagine anyone actually speaking. I had to force myself to finish reading this. My takeaway is that he used this fictional story to teach us about issues I knew nothing about, which I always appreciate!

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed two of the author's previous books, The Worst Hard Times and The Big Burn, so an opportunity to read something that incorporated wine into the narrative interested me.

The "non-fiction" parts of this book were the best, his rending of aspects of grape growing and wine making, his descriptions of drought, his portrayal of wild fire, and even the inclusion of a bit of fishing. The "fiction" worked less well for me, though I found in entertaining.

Absolutely solid.

[Irene D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The evocative story of an area in Washington, wine growing, indigenous peoples and a young girl of Italian descent. Her history going back to the Piemontese and the Etruscans. It is also the story of her father’s struggles in development of a vineyard through his lifetime. We get a short peek into his homeland and culture there. Excellent!

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the flow of the story odd, especially when Brunella goes to Italy with Timothy, though luscious and lovely. It did end up with a unexpected twist at the end. I almost gave up on this book but stayed with it because of my love for Washington state.

I found the descriptions of place very relatable and like a good book takes you there.