A treasure off the coast of France yields a journey through history in an intoxicating novel about a passion for wine, the complexities of love, and the fulfillment of long-held dreams.

Bente Hammar used to be a popular TV sommelier in Stockholm. Her career in limbo, she’s hounded by memories of her father, a wine connoisseur and failed dreamer. But Bente won’t give up. Then she hears from a friend whose diving expedition has yielded a shipwrecked treasure off the coast of Brittany: an old bottle of wine with a Swedish inscription dating back to 1944. Translating it, and chasing its curious history, is the fresh start Bente needs.

Didrik Holgersson is a celebrated historian, blindsided when his wife asks for a divorce. He’s questioning his own next choices in life when Bente urges him to participate in her quest. It’s perfect timing. Working together, Bente and Didrik head to France and begin to unravel a tangled story of wine, war, and forbidden love during the French Resistance.

In bringing that story back to light, Bente and Didrik discover that after more than eighty years, it also holds the power to change both their lives.

© 2023 by Heléne Holmström. ℗ 2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2025 by Marlaine Delargy.