Introduction

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist: 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.

Editorial Review

While The Winemaker's Daughter may be his first foray into fiction, Seattle author Timothy Egan is certainly no stranger to critical acclaim. As his debut novel deftly illustrates, this Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist certainly shows great talent for capturing the essence of a scene. His descriptive prose is infused with a certain lushness--just like a misty Seattle day. Where Egan stumbles, though, is in trying to bring together several plot lines and characters. While they share a thinly knit connection, none of them ever rises up to truly engage the reader.

The novel follows the story of Brunella Cartolano, an Italian winemaker's daughter who embarks on a battle to save her aging father's Pacific Northwest vineyards after a treacherous fire takes the life of her brother, Niccolo. At the same time, Brunella is struggling to preserve a historic Seattle waterfront from being destroyed and redeveloped by a Bill Gates-like millionaire. Brunella is also pursuing a romantic relationship with her brother's friend Teddy Flax, and with the Nez Perce Forest Service man who is investigating the fire that took her brother's life. Confused? Herein lies the problem with what could have been a dreamy, well-conceived look at life in the post-dot-com era of the Pacific Northwest--Egan strives to accomplish too much in too few pages. Rather than positioning itself as an epic tale of betrayal, love, lust, and loyalty, The Winemaker's Daughter never truly develops the themes that are so central to its success. --Gisele Toueg

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