It’s launch day!
I don’t even know what to say because all my words are in this book!
Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much
All the dismal Ds, but it actually has humour and a happy ending.
This memoir starts with my shock when my husband of twenty years demands a divorce. My year gets even worse when an online mob of rivals comes for my job. You could say it was a bad vintage.
I have to fight for my son, rebuild my reputation, and salvage my self-worth using my superpowers: heart, humour, and an uncanny ability to pair wine and food.
But on a more serious note, I do question my insider role in the slick marketing that encourages women to drink too much. In the end, I realize I need to reconnect with the vineyards that once brought me joy, the friends who sustain me, and my own belief in second chances.
This true coming-of-middle-age story is about transforming your life and finding love along the way.
It’s been 10 years in the making and so many have helped to bring this book baby into the world – thank you!
You can order your copy from any book retailer – all the links are at winewitchonfire.com.
WINE WITCH ON FIRE
Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much
By Natalie MacLean
Praise for Wine Witch on Fire:
Zesty, vibrant, meditative, edgy, structured, intense — these words Natalie MacLean might use to describe wines all apply to her Wine Witch on Fire. Dire, yes, but the book is funny and a page turner. 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
Natalie MacLean has been through hell and back — misogyny, sexism, social media trolling — but her words are heartfelt and her journey inspiring. – Barbara Fairchild, former editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit magazine
Natalie MacLean is living a life that is the definition of resilience. In her empowering new memoir ‘Wine Witch on Fire’ she takes us on her incredible journey filled with love, anguish and fearless determination. Natalie’s story is an inspiration and guide to living well and fearlessly. A fabulous read! – Traci Melchor, Senior Correspondent, Etalk
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, Food Network host, Order of Canada
Courageous—that’s the first word that comes to mind while reading Natalie MacLean’s new memoir Wine Witch on Fire. This book takes us behind the scenes, revealing one woman’s journey and extraordinary determination. – Karen MacNeil, bestselling author of The Wine Bible
Told with equal parts poignancy and humour, Wine Witch on Fire is a spirited tale of determination lived on the terroir of Natalie’s amazing and inspiring journey. – Danny Meyer, Founder & Executive Chairman, Union Square Hospitality Group and NYT bestselling author, Setting The Table
There’s a lot of underbelly in this memoir. 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
Rousing, funny, and insider-y, Natalie MacLean’s soul-baring memoir paints an evocative and compelling picture. – Nell McShane Wulfhart, bestselling author of Off Menu and New York Times columnist
A read filled with grit, vulnerability, healing, and hope. – Victoria James, bestselling author of Wine Girl: The Obstacles, Humiliations, and Triumphs of America’s Youngest Sommelier
Natalie has crafted her experience into what could pass for an unputdownable thriller. Any man who has a mother, wife, daughter or sister should read this book. – Steven Laine, bestselling author of Dragonvine
Here’s what readers are saying about Wine Witch on Fire.
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WINE WITCH ON FIRE: RISING FROM THE ASHES OF DIVORCE, DEFAMATION, AND DRINKING TOO MUCH (Dundurn Press; May 9, 2023) is a powerful memoir about how one woman 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.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natalie MacLean was named the World’s Best Drinks Writer at the World Food Media Awards, and has won four James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards. She is the only person to have won both the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation and the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing from Les Dames d’Escoffier International.
Her previous wine books — Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass and Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines — were each selected as one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year. Wine Witch on Fire: Rising from the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much is her debut memoir.
Natalie is the host of Unreserved Wine Talk, named one of the seven best drinks podcasts by the New York Times and one of Apple’s Best Listens of the Year.
Natalie studied the Romantic Poets at Oxford University with Jonathan Wordsworth and graduated with honours from the Master’s of Business Administration at Western University. She lives in Ottawa.
More information is available at www.nataliemaclean.com/winewitch.
