Emma's Review: A Vintage Summer by Cathy Bramley

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

London has not been kind to Lottie Allbright. Realising it’s time to cut and run, she packs up and moves back home – but finds her family in disarray. In need of a new place to stay, Lottie takes up the offer of a live-in job managing a local vineyard. There’s a lot to learn – she didn’t even know grapes could grow so far north!

Butterworth Wines in the rolling Derbyshire hills has always been run on love and passion but a tragic death has left everyone at a loss. Widowed Betsy is trying to keep the place afloat but is harbouring a debilitating secret. Meanwhile her handsome but interfering grandson, Jensen, is trying to convince her to sell up and move into a home.

Lottie’s determined to save Butterworth Wines, but with all this and an unpredictable English summer to deal with, it’ll be a challenge.

And that’s before she discovers something that will turn her summer – and her world – upside down.

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Many thanks to Random House UK for my copy of A Vintage Summer via NetGalley to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

The cover for this wonderful new book from Cathy Bramley is just glorious and so bright and colourful. It really sums up the book in just one picture and from beginning to end it was such a joy to read. Once you start you'll want no distractions at all allowing you to sit and read this charming, life affirming story in one fell swoop if at all possible. It was brilliant that this book wasn't published in four parts prior to publication as a full length novel as is normal with some of Cathy's books. In this way, I was able to keep going even when we got to points which I presumed could be cliffhangers if the book had been split into four parts.

Cathy just gets better and better with each book and in fact I don't think I have ever read a book by this author that I haven't enjoyed which is rare from me as usually I find an author can have one or two blips when it comes to publishing books. Thankfully this wasn't the case here at all and I quickly fell in love with the characters, the setting and the plot. It was obvious Cathy was clearly enjoying writing this story and she wanted her readers to as well. I'm sure it must have been lots of fun researching vineyards and wine production, imagine the wine tasting she must have had to do... All in the name of research of course.

Our main female character is Lottie Allbright who when we are first introduced to her has spent the last few months living and working in London with her boyfriend Harvey. Lottie moved away from the quaint village of Fernfield as Harvey wanted to satisfy his ambitions of setting up his own gym. Lottie managed to get a job as a gardener in a crematorium and although it may seem quite a strange job she has slowly learned to love it there. She is a people person and has brought her own unique slant to the job. But still Lottie doesn't feel she has really settled in London and having left her father behind to live by himself for the first time since the death of her mother she wonders whether she has made the right decision. She knows she had to spread her wings at some stage, and that her sister Evie is close by if needed, but the London dream is fast becoming a nightmare. When given the chance for promotion should she accept or will matters be taken out of her own hands? Initially I did feel the section of the book set in London was quite slow, and I wondered how this eventually would be connected to Lottie running a vineyard, but on reflection the scenes in London were crucial and absolutely necessary because they gave us an insight into Lottie's mindset as to why she felt she had to leave. I feared for her if she chose to stay any longer. The words sinister, controlling, manipulation, jealousy and aggression spring to mind.

I thought Lottie was so brave to make the decision she did because she knew she was changing her life path once again. It's not easy to admit you were wrong and to get out of a situation before it was too late but she made the choice and hopefully her life would be all the better for it. If she had remained where she was she would have been moulded into someone that was not really her and escaping gave her the options of directing herself down a new path. As a few little hints are dropped in every now and again I began to realise she was even braver for going it alone. The big surprise wasn't that much of a revelation to me as I easily picked up on the clues, none the less I was eager to see how this aspect of the storyline would be developed given the tricky situation that was unfolding. Lottie had been merely existing in London but now she needed to grasp new opportunities and live her life for herself and no one else. Was she too bruised to accept and embrace love if it came her way? Only time would tell.

When an opportunity presents itself that seems to good to resist Lottie soon finds herself as manager of Butterworth Wines, a vineyard and winery on the outskirts of Fernfield. Times are tough for the vineyard since the death of its creator Ted. Although we never got the chance to hear from Ted I felt as if I had because all the characters had such respect and love for him. It was like he was speaking through them and the devotion and love he had for growing the grapes and blending the wine shone through from every page. The research undertaken for this book must have been extensive because I hadn't any idea how much actually goes into producing a bottle of wine. Everything could have quite easily become bogged down in technical terms and processes but instead I felt it was informative, descriptive and interesting and the story didn't lose any flow or the main message within it when the wine making was being described.

As for the characters Lottie meets as she takes on the challenge of transforming the fortunes of the ailing vineyard and to get the grapes picked, well each and everyone one of them were fantastic. They each brought something unique and special to the story. They had their own little quirks and problems but together as a collective of volunteers they became a family unit with the success of the vineyard at the forefront of their minds. Nothing but love and a willingness to see things right was at the forefront of their minds. Roger, Godfrey, Clare, Pippa and Matt were essential to everything running smoothly but can Lottie make everyone pull together in the six months she has been given? But it's Betsy, Ted's widow, and Marjorie her sister-in-law who steal the show time and time again. What a duo they make. They have both experienced tragedy in their lives and now they have each other. An unusual couple so to speak but both oozed humour and warmth. Both have health issues but it is how one compensates the other that provided so many laugh out loud moments that have you chuckling along. Betsy is mischievous and devious but in a comical and good-natured way. She is slightly adrift but all the volunteers become like a family unit to her and unless Lottie can come up with some plans the vineyard will fail and all Ted's hard work, dreams and aspirations will go down the drain.

Lottie was certainly a character who throughout grew in strength and confidence. She would readily admit she was like a fish out of water when it came to viticulture and wine making but she never let that stop her. Her enthusiasm and ambition shone through at every opportunity. Even when things seemed insurmountable and there was more than one problem sent her way to test her capabilities she never gave up. What's even better was she realised she couldn't do things all on her own. She never tried to be someone she wasn't and it was brilliant hat she was willing and gracious when it came to accepting help. As the weeks pass she becomes deeply invested in the outcome for Butterworth Wines and hopes that by some chance of fate it may continue to be operated past the six months set down by Betsy. But who can take it over without it having to be sold?

Jensen, Betsy's grandson, arrives on the scene and as he has a high powered job  he is deeply ambitious. He doesn't see what Betsy, Lottie and the volunteers see when it comes to their love and dedication for the vineyard, he doesn't want to take it over which would seem to be the easiest solution. To be honest I thought Jensen had two sides to him. One in which he was kind, caring and had a good nature and would tend to people if they needed help or support but on the other hand he also came across as being slightly selfish and too caught up in his own needs and his goals when it came to his career. I could tell he cared for his aunt but I wanted him to push his own goals aside and think of what the vineyard actually meant to Ted and Betsy. Should he let it slip through his hands and have it lost to the family forever? Will all Lottie's efforts be futile and of no use? As for romance will Jensen be as opposed to that as he seems to be when it comes to the future of the vineyard? So many questions and I urge you to read this delightful book to discover all the answers.

A Vintage Summer is a captivating and sparking read that you will readily lose yourself in. Cathy Bramley's writing is superb and the story once we reached Fernfield moved along at a great pace. A picturesque location, characters you can relate to, humour and an excellent  plot all combine to make the story that awaits you inside the beautiful cover a deeply satisfying read.