Wine Witch on Fire

Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much

by Natalie MacLean

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Pub Date Jun 06 2023 | Archive Date May 31 2023

Biographies & Memoirs | Cooking, Food & Wine | Nonfiction (Adult)

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Description

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A powerful memoir about one woman who resurrects her life and career in the glamorous but sexist wine industry.

Natalie MacLean, a bestselling wine writer, is shocked when her husband of twenty years, a high-powered CEO, demands a divorce. Then an online mob of rivals comes for her career.

Wavering between despair and determination, she must fight for her son, rebuild her career, and salvage her self-worth using her superpowers: heart, humour, and an uncanny ability to pair wine and food.

Natalie questions her insider role in the slick marketing that encourages women to drink too much while she battles the wine world’s veiled misogyny. Facing the worst vintage of her life, she reconnects with the vineyards that once brought her joy, the friends who sustain her, and her own belief in second chances.

This true coming-of-middle-age story is about transforming your life and finding love along the way.

“This decade’s Eat Pray Love … Natalie MacLean survived an online mob, divorce and drinking too much. Her new memoir will help you get through your own mess, too.” — The Coast Magazine

“The book is funny, edgy, and a page turner. Zesty, vibrant, meditative, structured, intense ... anyone at a crux will be buoyed by this writer’s grit and grace.” — Frances Mayes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun

“This deeply personal memoir tells the inspiring story of a talented woman navigating the treacherous currents of the wine industry, finding her voice and regaining her power through a true connection to time and place, human terroir.” ? Chef Michael Smith, bestselling author of ten cookbooks and Food Network host

“Forthright, wry, and heady, Wine Witch on Fire is a memoir about wine, life, and hard-won wisdom.” ? Foreword Reviews

“Filled with grit, vulnerability, healing and hope.” ? Victoria James, bestselling author of Wine Girl

Advance Praise

"Zesty, vibrant, meditative, edgy, structured, intense—these words Natalie MacLean might use to describe wines all apply to her Wine Witch on Fire. With clear-eyed honesty and needle-sharp probing, her memoir covers a time of personal and of professional crisis. Anyone at a crux will be buoyed by this writer’s grit and grace." —FRANCES MAYES, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun

"This deeply personal memoir tells the inspiring story of a talented woman navigating the treacherous currents of the wine industry, finding her voice and regaining her power." —CHEF MICHAEL SMITH, bestselling author of ten cookbooks, Food Network host, Order of Canada

"Misogyny, sexism, social media trolling. Natalie MacLean has been through hell and back. But her words are heartfelt and her journey inspiring." —BARBARA FAIRCHILD, former editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit magazine

"Courageous—that’s the first word that comes to mind while reading Natalie MacLean’s new memoir Wine Witch on Fire. MacLean is an accomplished wine writer, but this deeply personal book takes us behind the scenes, revealing one woman’s journey and extraordinary determination." —KAREN MACNEIL, bestselling author of The Wine Bible

"Rousing, funny, and insider-y, Natalie MacLean's soul-baring memoir paints an evocative and compelling picture of what it’s like to be a woman in wine." —NELL MCSHANE WULFHART, bestselling author of Off Menu and New York Times columnist

"Filled with grit and vulnerability, MacLean examines the hardest parts of being a woman in a man’s world with honesty and poise." —VICTORIA JAMES, bestselling author of Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America's Youngest Sommelier

"This book is a significant gesture to push the wine industry toward greater inclusion of people who’ve been marginalized." —TERRY THEISE, bestselling author of Reading Between the Wines and What Makes A Wine Worth Drinking

"With a voice full of humour and keen honesty, wine writer Natalie Maclean pairs the personal with the political in her new book, Wine Witch on Fire. In the process, she exposes the sexism of an industry while coming to understand her own hard-won strengths. A delightful read with or without a glass of wine." —SUZANNE EVANS, author of The Taste of Longing, winner of the Taste Canada Gold Award

"In Wine Witch on Fire, Natalie MacLean opens her heart with authenticity to the pain of love lost, the joy of discovering new love, and the endless questions of balancing parenting with being a working professional." —KEN GOLDSTEIN, bestselling author of Endless Encores and From Nothing

"MacLean is well known for her vast wine knowledge and for sharing that knowledge but with this work she shares a plethora of personal life crises with humour and compassion teaching that anyone who experiences similar troubles and mid-life crises can also transform their lives." —JOHN J. MAHONEY, Ph.D., C.W.E., author of Every Bottle Has a Story, Wine for Intellectuals and Wine: The Source of Civilization

"Natalie Maclean has written a harrowing, heartfelt and often hilarious account of the backlash she endured breaching the largely male-dominated world of wine writing." —ROSA HARRIS, bestselling author of Boomerville

"Wine wizard wordsmith, enchanting interviewer, battle-tested survivor, fierce mother, witty, wise—Natalie MacLean is the whole package. Sip a great wine while you savor her memoir." —GUS CLEMENS, nationally syndicated wine columnist, Gannett/USA Today

"Natalie MacLean offers readers a look into the magical world of wine, addressing head-on its problematic treatment of women throughout the industry." —RACHEL SIGNER, bestselling author of You Had Me at Pét-Nat

"Natalie has crafted her experience into what could pass for an unputdownable thriller. It’s all the more jarring because it’s based on fact. I loved the tension and fast-paced writing. Any man who has a daughter, sister, or mother should read this book. Women with a little witch and fire within them will enjoy it too." —STEVEN LAINE, bestselling author of Dragonvine