Wine People - by Michelle Wildgen

About the Book

What happens when two ambitious young women, opposite in every way, join forces in a competitive male-dominated industry? Wren and Thessaly collide when they land coveted jobs at a glamorous New York City boutique wine importer. Hardworking, by-the-book Wren comes from a modest background and has everything to prove while Thessaly hails from a family of prestigious California growers--but she is plagued by self-doubt. Thrown together at work, where they're expected to have exquisite palates, endless tolerance for alcohol and socializing, and the ability to sell, sell, sell, they regard each other with suspicion. It's only on an important European business trip--with everything on the line for both of them--that they unexpectedly forge an alliance that will change the course of their careers and personal lives.

Book Synopsis

A Time Magazine "25 New Books You Need to Read This Summer"

"A riveting, behind-the-scenes portrait of a high-drama industry, from the chateau to the corner office...pour a glass and dive in."--Oprah Daily

An intoxicating escape into the cutthroat world of wine and the complicated terrain of women's friendship.

Wren and Thessaly collide when they land coveted jobs at a glamorous New York City boutique wine importer. Hardworking, by-the-book Wren comes from a modest background and has everything to prove, while Thessaly hails from a family of prestigious California growers--but she is plagued by self-doubt. Thrown together at work, where they're expected to have exquisite palates, endless tolerance for alcohol and socializing, and the ability to sell, sell, sell, they regard each other with suspicion.

It's only on an important European business trip--with everything on the line for both of them--that they unexpectedly forge an alliance that will change the course of their careers and personal lives.

With mouth-watering descriptions of food and wine, Wine People takes readers from France, Germany, and Italy to the Midwest and California wine country, in an utterly entertaining page-turner.

Review Quotes

"A riveting, behind-the-scenes portrait of a high-drama industry, from the chateau to the corner office...pour a glass and dive in."
--Oprah Daily

"So intoxicatingly real and so, so smart and moving, Wildgen's novel plumbs the depths of female friendship through the lives of two indelible characters: outsider Wren and golden girl Thessaly, who both enter the wine business as young women, fiercely bond, and then go into business together. Grappling with who they really were and who they now are meant to be, both together and apart, this is a stunner about ambition, love, and family. Wine connoisseurs, foodies, and literature lovers will be enraptured."
--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

"Wildgen beautifully captures the shifting feelings and perspectives of a long friendship evolving over time, even as she illuminates a little-known corner of wine culture. An intriguing read!"
--Andrea Barrett, National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever and Natural History

"An intoxicating story of friendship, workplace politics, entrepreneurship, and, of course, the elixir of the Gods, Wine People is all the wine metaphors and then some. Savor it."
--Elisa Albert, author of Human Blues

"I blazed through this novel--a complicated, authentic examination of female ambition and friendship that also happens to be such fun to read."
--Vauhini Vara, author of The Immortal King Rao

"Wine People follows wine professionals Wren and Thessaly as they compete to become the heirs of a retiring New York City importer--but it's just as much about what happens after that. In sharp, sensory prose, Wildgen takes us from Madison, Wisconsin and Sonoma, California to Italy, France, and beyond. In her hands, wine is many things at once: a sometimes-destroyer of relationships, yes, but also an ancient art that bottles time and place. Smart and very funny, satirical but deeply felt, Wine People is an ode to the complexity of working friendships--as well as a shrewd, clear-eyed love letter to wine and the people who make, import, and drink it."
--Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

Praise for Bread and Butter

"Wildly entertaining ... a novel that's as much about the complex dance of family dynamics as it is about the mysterious world behind the kitchen door-and a divinely delicious read, to boot." --O, the Oprah Magazine

"Restaurateur brothers torn between nostalgia and novelty are the focus of Tin House executive editor Michelle Wildgen's new novel, Bread and Butter (Doubleday), filled with tasty insider details, from the tyranny of molten chocolate cake to the politics of dining at the bar." --Vogue

"Gets the details of the restaurant biz and the dynamics of those who are part of it just right . . . As she did in You're Not You, her compulsively readable literary debut, Wildgen couples vivid description with crisp prose, putting the reader right in the scene -- and right at the table." --Miami Herald

"Wildgen glazes Bread and Butter with delicious behind-the-scenes details that foodies will appreciate . . . it goes down like comfort food." --Entertainment Weekly

"Four stars for Bread and Butter (Doubleday), Michelle Wildgen's saucy tale of three foodie brothers at each others' throats." --Vanity Fair

"Bread and Butter is a tremendous feast of a novel." --The Millions

"[A] family drama set against the backdrop of an insider's take on big-ticket dining . . . Wildgen plates one dazzling dish after another on nearly every page." --Kirkus Reviews

"Wildgen dazzles with her prose, which is sprinkled with keen observations and supported by her food-writing knowledge . . . [A] trenchant examination of sibling rivalry and fine cuisine. Not for foodies only." --Publishers Weekly

"Wildgen writes with a fresh, appealing honesty and has done a marvelous job of capturing that youthful moment in our lives when we are like sponges ready to soak up someone else's character, taste and charm, borrowed elements from which we hope to concoct an authentic, individual self." --Francine Prose, People Magazine, Critic's Choice, 4 stars

"Wildgen is after something less treacly and more complicated. Bec makes progress--and mistakes. Kate suffers, but she's no saint . . . it's no less a manly man than Raymond Carver . . . who comes to mind when Bec cooks without Kate's tutelage." --Jennifer Weiner, Elle

"Wildgen has the professional chops to whip up a debut delicacy that's as complex as a rich cassoulet and as comforting as good ol' mac-and-cheese." --Carol Haggas, Booklist

"A riveting, behind-the-scenes portrait of a high-drama industry, from the chateau to the corner office...pour a glass and dive in."
--Oprah Daily

"So intoxicatingly real and so, so smart and moving, Wildgen's novel plumbs the depths of female friendship through the lives of two indelible characters: outsider Wren and golden girl Thessaly, who both enter the wine business as young women, fiercely bond, and then go into business together. Grappling with who they really were and who they now are meant to be, both together and apart, this is a stunner about ambition, love, and family. Wine connoisseurs, foodies, and literature lovers will be enraptured."
--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

"Wildgen beautifully captures the shifting feelings and perspectives of a long friendship evolving over time, even as she illuminates a little-known corner of wine culture. An intriguing read!"
--Andrea Barrett, National Book Award-winning author of Ship Fever and Natural History

"An intoxicating story of friendship, workplace politics, entrepreneurship, and, of course, the elixir of the Gods, Wine People is all the wine metaphors and then some. Savor it."
--Elisa Albert, author of Human Blues

"I blazed through this novel--a complicated, authentic examination of female ambition and friendship that also happens to be such fun to read."
--Vauhini Vara, author of The Immortal King Rao

"Wine People follows wine professionals Wren and Thessaly as they compete to become the heirs of a retiring New York City importer--but it's just as much about what happens after that. In sharp, sensory prose, Wildgen takes us from Madison, Wisconsin and Sonoma, California to Italy, France, and beyond. In her hands, wine is many things at once: a sometimes-destroyer of relationships, yes, but also an ancient art that bottles time and place. Smart and very funny, satirical but deeply felt, Wine People is an ode to the complexity of working friendships--as well as a shrewd, clear-eyed love letter to wine and the people who make, import, and drink it."
--Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

Praise for Bread and Butter

"Wildly entertaining ... a novel that's as much about the complex dance of family dynamics as it is about the mysterious world behind the kitchen door-and a divinely delicious read, to boot." --O, the Oprah Magazine

"Restaurateur brothers torn between nostalgia and novelty are the focus of Tin House executive editor Michelle Wildgen's new novel, Bread and Butter (Doubleday), filled with tasty insider details, from the tyranny of molten chocolate cake to the politics of dining at the bar." --Vogue

"Gets the details of the restaurant biz and the dynamics of those who are part of it just right . . . As she did in You're Not You, her compulsively readable literary debut, Wildgen couples vivid description with crisp prose, putting the reader right in the scene -- and right at the table." --Miami Herald

"Wildgen glazes Bread and Butter with delicious behind-the-scenes details that foodies will appreciate . . . it goes down like comfort food." --Entertainment Weekly

"Four stars for Bread and Butter (Doubleday), Michelle Wildgen's saucy tale of three foodie brothers at each others' throats." --Vanity Fair

"Bread and Butter is a tremendous feast of a novel." --The Mil

About the Author

Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novels You're Not You, But Not For Long, and Bread and Butter. She edited the anthology Food and Booze, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, O, the Oprah Magazine, and Best American Food Writing. Formerly executive editor of Tin House, Wildgen is cofounder of the Madison Writers' Studio.