The Vineyard

by Barbara Delinsky

In The Vineyard, New York Times bestselling author Barbara Delinsky (Lake News, Coast Road, Three Wishes) has written her most complex and emotionally rewarding novel: a story of two women, a generation apart, each of whose dream becomes bound with the other's.

To her family, Natalie Seebring is a woman who prizes appearances. She is exquisitely mannered, socially adept, a supportive wife, and head of a successful wine-producing enterprise. So when she announces plans to marry a vineyard employee mere months after the death of her husband of fifty-eight years, her son and daughter are stunned. Faced with their disapproval, Natalie decides to write a memoir. There is much that her children don't know about her life -- about her love of the vineyard, her role in fighting to build it up, and the sacrifices she made for her family.

Olivia Jones is a dreamer, living vicariously through the old photographs she restores. She and her daughter, Tess, have no one but themselves, so they cling to the fantasy that a big, happy family is out there somewhere, just waiting to welcome them home. When Olivia is hired by Natalie to help with her memoir, a summer at Natalie's beautiful vineyard by the sea seems the perfect opportunity to live out that fantasy -- an elegant home by the shore, a salary that allows her to hire a tutor for her dyslexic daughter, a job that is creative, hours spent with a woman who has led a charmed life.

But all is not as it seems, Olivia and Tess discover when they arrive at Asquonset, the vineyard in Rhode Island. While welcoming, Natalie is not quite the mothering type, as is quickly evident in the hostility her daughter and son have toward her -- it's a hostility that Olivia must buffer. Another dose of stark reality comes in the form of Simon Burke, who runs the vineyard's day-to-day operation and sees in Olivia and Tess an unwelcome reminder of the wife and daughter he tragically lost. And then there is the cruel reality of Olivia's own life -- the mother who never wanted her, and a career that has floundered.

Natalie's story, intended for her own children, enlightens Olivia as well. The lives of these two women of different generations, parallel in so many ways, become, in The Vineyard, a powerful and moving story as the fantasy of an idealized life, complete with perfect romance, crashes headlong into reality.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Womens Fiction, Contemporary, Drama, Adult

488 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

I was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.

Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.

I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.

My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.

My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013.  Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015.  Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.

2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/bdelinsky
Look for my photos on Instagram: instagram.com/barbaradelinsky

Reviews

[Antigone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olivia Jones is in a bit of a fix. Her boss is retiring and her job is about to come to an end. Her daughter, Tess, a diagnosed dyslexic, is having trouble at school. The mother she's been searching for is proving elusive - letters are sent and returned, no one's knocking at the door. Olivia longs for family and the safety net she imagines additional relations will provide. She hungers for this so sorely that she launches into flights of fancy, weaving herself into the lives of the aristocratic vineyard owners in the photographs she's currently restoring. Is she their long-lost daughter, granddaughter, niece...second cousin once-removed? Anything is possible when you need it to be. And so, when the matriarch of these New England blue-bloods writes to request help in finding someone to assist with her memoirs, well, the offer is all but heaven-sent. Off to the vineyard they go.

Barbara Delinsky is a solid novelist in the romantic vein. Her prose is proficient, and she has a nice grasp of conflict and familial dynamics. She's also possessed of an inclination I have great fondness for: the threading of wisdom through conversation. That's something I'll walk a hot literary mile to obtain. There's no better way to deliver a life lesson than through the words of a character primed to convey it. Far too many authors are avaricious in this regard, hoarding those gems for themselves through omniscient narration. It's a personal choice, of course, yet you shave a layer of authenticity from the work every time you make it.

There's the praise. Here's the problem. Protagonist Olivia Jones and her daughter, Tess, are seriously unlikable people. Too much aggression, too much entitlement, and far too much attitude for a couple of folks who lucked into a sliver of paradise. In a circumstance that is already modestly intrusive, Delinsky ratchets up the nosiness until it's downright invasive. And she knows it. She recognizes the problem. It's why her main character is constantly apologizing for being too forward with her questions, and why the matriarch spends most of her time in an attitude of forgiveness. Apparently our author couldn't think of another way to drive this memoir process but to floor it and hope for the best.

Which is hardly a winning approach to romantic fiction.

[Glenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a fan of Barbara Delinsky, but I didn't like this one as well as others of hers I have read. Pretty predictable and "fluffy" but I read it quickly. I did learn a lot about grapes and wine making, which was interesting. Not a bad book, just not too gripping.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vineyard was my first book by Barbara Delinsky. My mother brought it to me after she read it herself since the setting is a vineyard. My husband and I love wine and drink a glass with most of our evening meals so she thought this book would appeal to me. She was right.

I loved the setting of the Rhode Island vineyard of Asquonset. The descriptions of the Great House had me wishing I could really go there.

Olivia is a photo restorer who needs to find a new job. Her boss has decided to retire and is closing down his business. She discovers a letter among the mail in the office one day asking her boss Otis for any referral he has for someone to come to Asquonset for the summer to help the owner Natalie write her memoir. Olivia convinces Otis that she is the person for the job. It will give her the summer to look for a job and a school for her daughter Tess who is dyslexic. Natalie not only gives Olivia the job but arranges for Tess to have a tutor, a tennis coach and sailing lessons at the local yacht club.

Olivia falls easily into her role but does not plan on confronting her feelings when she meets Simon who in charge of the vines. Simon is Carl's son. Carl is going to be marrying Natalie that summer. But Natalie's own children have something to say about the situation with their father only being dead for six months...if only they knew Natalie's real story.

A sweet love story definitely to be enjoyed with a glass of a tasty vintage.

[Lynne Spreen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Barbara Delinsky is a fine writer. This book must be an aberration. Her main character is in her 30s and acts 10, the love interest is a dour man twenty years older than her, and the explanations about viticulture and the family history just go on and on and on. The daughter whines, whines, whines; the matriarch of the family seems dazed all the time...I'm at 40% and I just can't read any more.

[Sylvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was more annoyed by the character Olivia Jones than sympathetic to her with her imaginings and feeling sorry for herself. I liked Natalie and the Simon and Carl, but felt the story was a bit too manipulative.

[Judy Churchill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Published in 2000, this was an enchanting story with a complex plot. Set in a Rhode Island vineyard and winery, the story revolves around a 76 year old widow of six months sending wedding invitations to her adult children. As the drama begins, her children express outrage and the revelations begin. Sensitive and honest. It’s worth a read.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This storyline had a little bit of everything. Romance ✔️ cute small town (ish) vibes ✔️ little bit of history ✔️ cute kid ✔️

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book, but I enjoyed it. Does make you want to take a trip to a vineyard.

[Bonnie Dieffenbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a young single mother looses her job because her employer retires, she takes a job as a personal assistant to the owner of a vineyard. This was a good book full of family dynamics and emotional issues. I really liked it.

[Scott Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another horrible free hostel book. Reckon my gran would’ve liked this number had she still be kicking a ball. Instead it’ll likely be going in the bin.

[Arlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book of Barbara Delinsky. Read it as an e-book and I found so many typo errors.

[Danielle Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of love, loss, and complicated family dynamics that I think is relatable to any reader! Many fun facts about wine are included if that’s your thing.

The story was a little slow moving overall but who doesn’t enjoy a happy ending?!?

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Seebrings are one of the wealthy families of vintners with property on Rhode Island. Natalie Seebring is seventy-six, an elegant, well-mannered and socially adept woman who has always supported her husband and owns the successful Asquonset Vineyard. Six months after the death of her husband, she announces plans to marry Carl Burke, a man she has known since childhood who has managed the vineyard for thirty-five years. Given their differences in social and financial standing, her grown son and daughter are shocked at their mother’s plans for a Labour Day wedding. Natalie, faced with their disapproval and finding no other way she can explain her decision, decides to write her memoirs, hoping her children will begin to understand why she is taking this step. They know nothing about her past life and she is hoping that if they do, they may better understand her decision. She invites Olivia Jones, a woman she has never met but who has been restoring some of Natalie’s old photographs, to move to the vineyard for the summer with her daughter and help her with this project. Olivia Jones is thirty-five and a single mother, struggling with a career that is faltering and a ten-year-old daughter Tess, who is dyslexic. Faced with the opportunity to spend a summer at a beautiful home by the sea and earn a regular salary that will help pay a tutor for her dyslexic daughter, she jumps at the opportunity.

Olivia’s summer, however is not an easy one. She is forced to serve as a buffer between Natalie and her angry children and deal with Simon Burke the son of the man Natalie is to marry who is now the vineyard manager and runs the day-to-day operation. Simon’s wife and daughter were killed four years ago in a tragic sailing accident and he is has not recovered from his lost. The presence of Olivia and her daughter serve as a constant and painful reminder of them, holding him back from moving forward in his life. He is not looking for a family to replace them and his attitude toward Olivia and her daughter is surly, resentful and curt.

Olivia has also experienced disappointments and struggles in her past. She is still searching for the alcoholic mother who never wanted her and trying to raise and provide for her daughter after her husband walked out of her life. Her career is floundering and despite her efforts she is always one step away from financial disaster.

Delinski tells the story from the point of view of several of the characters. As Natalie’s memoir takes shape, her past unfolds and the impressions and assumptions others have made about her are challenged as the truth is laid bare. The story goes back to World War II, the Depression and the sacrifices she and many others of her generation made to survive those events and secure the long-term goal of security for their families. Olivia learns from Natalie’s story as it becomes clear that the lives of the two women share many parallels. Each has experienced love and loss and were forced to make difficult decisions.

This is a story of two generations, the different challenges each faced and a story of a gentle romance and a tragic past. Delinsky sets her narrative in the beautiful landscape of the vineyard she so beautifully describes, but does not forget to include all the hard work required to guarantee it as a viable and successful enterprise.

This book was published in 2000, another addition to this writer’s large catalogue of novels. She maintains a loyal following of women readers and although this is not my usual choice of a book, it was still a good read.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asquonset Vineyard, Rhode Island. Six months after the death of her husband of 58 years, Natalie Seebring announces her intentions to marry Carl Burke, a man she's known since childhood, a man who's been her vineyard manager for the past 35 years. Naturally, Natalie's grown children, Susanne and Greg, are shocked and disturbed by the sudden news. Natalie decides to hire someone for the summer to help write her memoirs in time for her Labor Day wedding. She hopes her story will explain to her children what she's been through in her 76 years and what she's feeling now.
At 35, Olivia Jones is a single mother working hard to provide for her 10-year-old daughter Tess. Olivia knows art and photography. She's been doing photo restoration for Natalie Seebring for months, although they've never met. Through her work, Olivia has grown very attached to the Seebring family. She can only imagine what each family member is like and imagines herself as a Seebring herself. She jumps at the job offer to work at the vineyard for the summer. The pay will be more than enough to hire tutors to help Tess with her dyslexia.

With Olivia at her side, pen in hand, Natalie's story of love, heartache, struggle and perseverance slowly unfolds, revealing a few secrets along the way.

Meanwhile, Olivia is searching for her own mother as well as dealing with Carl's son, Simon, now the vineyard manager. Simon lost his wife and daughter 4 years ago in a sailing accident and having Olivia around with young Tess only stirs up the pain he's worked so hard to bury.

This is truly a story so well told that you laugh at times and cry at others. There's so much detail on a variety of topics. The reader learns a bit about growing grapes, sailing, hurricanes, the Great Depression and World War II. Each character is so well-written, I feel that if I were ever in Rhode Island, I could simply drive up and pay the Seebrings a visit. Great people book.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chick lit at its finest. So many good details, families torn asunder, single mom with problem child, aloof and arrogant vineyard manager, hurricanes, you name it, it happens in this book. Natalie Seebring announces plans to marry her vineyard manager, a couple of months after the death of her husband of 58 years. Needless to say, her children are in a tizzy, thinking she's being disloyal and wondering why she wants to marry again in the first place and taking it the next step and suspecting she's been having an affair for years. Olivia Jones is a photo restorer, she's been restoring photos from Natalie's life and occasionally fantasizing that Natalie is her grandmother. So when Natalie hires Olivia for the summer to write her life story, Olivia couldn't be happier. Olivia brings her daughter Tess. Olivia is working very hard to support Tess and trying to figure out a way to afford better schooling for her and support for her special needs. Now they are both embroiled in the vineyard family which seems to be imploding daily with staff upset about the impending marriage and leaving in droves. Natalie's children are refusing to attend the wedding. But wait, there's a light at the end of the tunnel .....

[Hubert · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bore of a domestic drama featuring a single mother with low-esteem bringing a dyslexic, but curious, daughter to a vineyard in Rhode Island as part of a summer job writing the memoirs of a 76-yr. old magnate named Natalie Seebring. Natalie receives the scorn of her family on account of her quick remarriage to Carl, who works as the head distiller on the grounds of Asquonset, where the winery is located. Along the way, the reader discovers deep family secrets, broken hearts, and several people who come to terms with herself and her past.

Delinsky's voice as a writer is utterly unattractive, an "Exhibit A" for burgeoning writers learning that showing is much more effective than telling. I don't know if I've ever read a text with such a great disconnect between the attractiveness of the drink (of course, here, wine) and food (Natalie's daughter ends up cooking a lot when much of the staff absconds) and locale; and their accompanying descriptions. There's nothing in writing much worse than sentimental blubber.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Barbara Delinsky is so hit and miss for me and unfortunately this was a miss. This book is about a vineyard and the people who live on it and their families. The Vineyard is run by an elderly woman named Natalie and a man named Carl. They are getting married and her kids are not happy about it. His son runs the Vineyard and doesn’t mind. A woman named Olivia comes with her daughter Tessa to write Natalie‘s memoir. We find out more about Natalie‘s past and her relationships and life on the Vineyard. I thought the book was long and an interesting. I never really connected to the characters and there’s not a whole lot of plot. Overall this one just did not hold my interest.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Natalie and Carl were in love from a young age but he went to war and there was an age gap so it never worked. She married their friend for money and had the kids. Now she’s in her 70s marrying Carl and telling her story. Olivia and Carl’s son get together and she finally finds where she belongs. A big storm almost Ruins the vineyard but then it’s all okay.

[Catmom 4 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I had a rough time with this one. This is about a woman who hires someone to write her story about how she grew up during the War and Depression.
The story was slow, there were to many useless elements and the stab at romance was just to predictable.
Surprisingly, I did finish it.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellant book. Wonderfully told story with twists and turns that will keep you reading until late into the night. Keep the tissues handy, this one will tug at your heartstrings.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely book. Had history, love, friendships etc. A little predictable but all in all, a solid read.

[Ann]

didn't keep my interest....

[Lydia Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book just did not captivate me whatsoever, nor did it interest me. It was very boring and hard for me to keep reading so I stopped altogether.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was on my shelf for a long time and I kept passing it by. When I finally read it, it was like when you have a nice, hot cup of coffee or tea, and you sit down with it and let it cool a bit and anticipate savoring the warm beverage and when you finally take a sip it has cooled too much and you are disappointed but still drink the lukewarm beverage and enjoy the taste but don't get the full extent of the coziness.

In the beginning I thought there were a few too many characters. They were all sort of dumped in the bowl before I had a chance to care about them individually. This made it hard to keep straight who was who. Susanne and Greg and their spouses especially; I really didn't absorb how they were connected. Also having 3 generations of almost non-existent Brads was weird and a little confusing. Natalie's brother Brad died in the war, her son Brad died when he was 11 (a situation that is not fully revealed until near the end of the book - but there are hints) and Susane's son Brad (still alive but we never see him). Then we meet Olivia, Otis and Tess. They got a lot more pages so I cared more for them.

For the most part, you know how this book is going to work out. One idea that is floated a few times early on doesn't come to fruition exactly like it was planted, but pretty close. Parts of this book feel like Delinsky had bigger plans and then got tired and gave up. Like Natalie and Carl's wedding. It is the thing that stirs everyone up, it seems like the whole book is building to it, and then it happens off the pages. You also know that a particular couple will get together, they start off hating each other, there is the cliché tension, and then I blinked and they were TOGETHER. Like, all the way together. They didn't even have to get accidentally locked in a closet or anything. Early on, as story arcs go, he asked her to stay but she was still in denial that there was a relationship so of course she didn't respond in the affirmative. But there's no repeat ask, there's no flipping the ask so that she asks him, it just is.

There were a couple of surprises. Like the hurricane. I mean, I didn't anticipate it from the beginning. But there was enough foreshadowing that you knew it would be a problem. The other surprise, about someone's lineage, was indeed a surprise to me.

There's a lot of room for a sequel, but whether there is or isn't, I don't feel compelled to read it.

[Sherrill Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

See Paula's review for the plot. More than I wanted to know about vineyards or a hurricane that missed. A nearly 500-page love story between Olivia and Simon.

We have Natalie, the matriarch, whose children have been living their own lives for most of her 70+ years. Her outgoing, (did he have any other qualities?) husband has just died. We have Carl, who works at Asquonset, whom Natalie has loved for 60+ years, and has decided to marry six months after her husband became deceased. We have her three children who disapprove, and we have Olivia and little Tess. Oh, and we have Simon, who is focused on the vineyard (his wife, mother and son died in a boating accident) and is Carl's son.

Thru judicious reveals, we learn Natalie's story, told by way of her writing a book which she dictates to Olivia. Simon warms to Olivia, slooowwly, and the children (and some of the grandchildren) warm to Natalie, although she is focused, as always, on Asquonset. Very little is said about Carl or Alexander's personalities, and Natalie has a secret about an earlier son she is loath to tell.

Natalie's stories about Alexander and Carl during WW II provide some interest for me. But I found it difficult to believe that Simon, himself, physically goes out & tears the leaves away from the grapes not in the sunshine; what times of day were they in shade? Well, there was someone named Donna who helped, I suppose. Nice handling of Tess, and her artistry; it was interesting that she seemed interested in the winemaking process.

When do you get over a death? Carl says: "It's different with different people. Like a cold. Some people shake it in two days. Some sniffle for a week. All you know is that at some point you start to feel better. You breathe freer. You sleep the night. You start wanting to do things." Hmm. I have a friend who's still going thru grief after five years.

Natalie says to Olivla: "You wanted to be a part of a family. Well, this is what family is about. It's about crossed wires and lack of communication. It's about making accommodations for things you would never allow in a friend. With a friend, you just say good-bye and that's it. With family, you're stuck." But what about a family member who is an addict? Or a close friend?

Too simplistic for me.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I notice that this book is almost 500 pages. The audiobook I listened to was only 4 cds so I’m guessing it is an abridged version, which explains a lot. It is wham bam thank you ma’am.
But that said it doesn’t explain how Olivia can write a memoir for Natalie and get it published in the span of less than three months bc she is only there for the summer and she gets it back from the publishers that same summer to get it on the nightstands of Natalie’s grown children with time enough for them to read it before that three months is over and before the wedding? that is impossible.
It also isn’t believable that Carl would stay there working for Alexander for 58 years when he’s in love with Natalie. That’s the height of masochistic behavior.
This was like a cheesy, bodice ripper, I’ve read this plot so many times it’s sickening. Poor girl orphan, finds love with a guy she initially didn’t like at all.
He has a dead wife and child. Poor girl inherits a bundle from long lost mother but then finds love and bliss with handsome sad widow.....gaaaaaaa. The only reason I finished this was bc it was an audiobook I listened to while driving.
Do not recommend but I’ve heard her other books are better.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was bored throughout. This book was way too long and there was so much telling going on. I wasn't interested in all of the history, the descriptions of vineyards and the play by play of the hurricane. When authors start getting wordy, I skip over some to get to the next sentence of dialogue. It just didn't really feel like much was happening, at least nothing that I cared about. There were two romances then there was a couple that wasn't getting along, and the two kids that were at odds with their mother. It didn't feel like we even learned enough about some of the characters/relationships to know what all of the drama was really about. I had wondered what had happened to the older son and once that was revealed I really lost all interest. I hadn't predicted the one twist, but it didn't really shock me. I didn't find any of the characters all that likeable. I have read many of this author's books and this may very well be my least favorite. I've got one of her more recent books still to read and I do look forward to that.

[Laura Meister · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up from one of my neighborhood’s many free, little libraries. I grabbed it because it made me think of the books all the moms would read at the pool while we swam and played and complained about the injustice of adult swim. As my family has (mush less bougie) ties to New England, I enjoyed the setting and scenery. The book was written in 2025 but didn’t necessarily feel dated (the print was pretty effing small for this person who is [almost] 2x25 years) and at 484 paperback pages, it was a lot to read.

It’s sorta of the perfect book to find at your rental house at the beach. It’s one story that will keep you awake if your aren’t too tired and also something you want to read “just one more chapter” before starting your day. It covers the Great Depression, WWII, requited but poorly timed love, family sacrifice, loss, parental relationships … even childhood polio. There is a lot of “flashback” story telling (all in italics … even smaller looking print!), which felt a little tedious.

[Rena Ackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

One woman wants to tell the true story of what her life was like running the vineyard she and her husband turned into a prospering business in Cape Cod. Her grown children have only seen it from their point of view growing up, she kept much hidden. Now that Natalie Seebring is remarrying, she decided to tell that story in book format since she has never been very good at talking with her children. Olivia, is the restorer of photographs that has been working on the photos Natalie has sent in to her boss. She has fallen in love with the photographs, and the idea of a family. She is a single mother, and desperately needs the money to pay for her daughter’s school the next year. Natalie needs an editor for her book. This is the start of a wonderful saga that will keep you reading into the night. Family drama, the vineyard, young love forbidden, hurricane in the vineyard, a bit of everything, but Barbara Delinsky weaves it together into a satisfying tale.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story even though it was quite predictable! I enjoyed the vineyard setting, and all the details about how a vineyard runs on a daily basis. Natalie, and Carl were my favorite characters, and I admired their strength through the years as well as their love story that spanned many years. Olivia the other main character is a single mom raising a ten year old who is dyslexic, Simon is Carl’s son and works at the vineyard and lost his wife and daughter as well as his mom in a sailing accident and has built an impenetrable wall around himself. As soon as Olivia gets the job with Natalie I figured the direction of the story would have Simon and Olivia falling in love! It took a few chapters but it did happen!
Overall still an easy and enjoyable read!

[Susan Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of 2 women a generation apart who came together when the elder required an assistant to help her with her life story book. They both struggled to live the life they wanted. One was pragmatic and accepted the hand that life gave her. The other was disappointed with her life and apt to fantasising and at times lying to others to make her life seem more as she would have liked it to be. Their lives intertwined and they both got the life that they desired.

Although Barbara Delinsky has a style that is all her own, there were parts in relation to the meticulous detail of technical matters, such as producing wine, hurricanes and the teaching of children with learning disabilities that reminded me of Jodie Picolut.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes a simple story is just a feel-good simple story. I've always been fascinated by vineyard stories (even though I don't drink wine) and I used to live in New England, so this book grabbed me from the shelf. I think many of us love the idea of a love that lasts through the ages, and even though the complications along the way might cause misunderstandings, there's something to be said for a story that involves growth. That appears to be the theme here--couched in the growth of the vines themselves. Every character in the story embarks on a journey of growth and healing one way or the other. Maybe that's what makes a happy ending happy--knowing it's the beginning of a new journey.