Elizabeth Knox

One summer night in 1808, Sobran Jodeau encounters an angel named Xas, whom he believes to be his guardian angel, but as their relationship develops, Sobran discovers the mystery that surrounds Xas, who is a favorite of both God and Satan. Reprint.

A Novel

The Vintner's Luck

One summer evening in 1808, Sobran Jodeau stumbles through his family's vineyard in Burgundy, filled with wine and love sorrows. As Sobran sways in a drunken swoon, an angel appears out of nowhere to catch him.Once he gets over his shock, Sobran decides that Xas, the male angel, is his guardian sent to counsel him on everything from marriage to wine production. But Xas turns out to be far more mysterious than angelic. Compelling and erotic, THE VINTNER'S LUCK is a decidedly unorthodox love story, one that presents angels as fierce and beautiful as Milton's, and a vision of Heaven, Hell, and the vineyards in between that is unforgettable.

zainab

“You’re not my luck, fallen angel, or even my dearest friend. You’re my love. My true love.”

im actually speechless . no review can do this book justice

Burgundy, 1808. One night Sobran Jodeau, a young vintner, meets an angel in his vineyard: a physically gorgeous creature with huge wings that smell of snow, a sense of humour and an inquiring mind. Every year on the midsummer anniversary of the date, they meet again. Village life goes on, meanwhile, with its affairs and mysteries, marriages and murders, and the vintages keep improving - though the horror of the Napoleonic wars and into the middle of the century, as science marches on, viticulture changes, and gliders fly like angels. This delectably unconventional novel, rooted in earthly reality and grippingly written, engages grand and glorious themes on an intimate, human scale.

Pepper

A chance encounter in 1808 on a midsummer night of a young French vintner with an angel begins a friendship that will continue through the years as it develops into lust, love, hatred, affection and back to love. The book is structured such that each chapter is a year in the vintner's life from the day he met Xas, the unforgettable 27th June. It can be said that each chapter is like an anticipation awaiting the mention of Xas and the union of the two friends sitting at first together under the stars tasting wine as Xas asks Sobran to relate how his life went in the past year, how his friends and family fare and advises him on his vineyard while Sobran cautiously questions him about heaven, hell, God and Lucifer and later as they share more intimate moments together. 

The beauty in this story lies in its minimalism. It feels like one is reading afterthoughts, a summary of the year that went past, a series of mentions of Sobran’s ever growing family and how their lives proceed as the years go past but at the same time one ends up knowing these characters, loving them, worrying for them. And in those moments of a lot more disclosure than we are used to the scenes playing before our eyes are so gorgeous or heartbreaking that they leave you trying to grasp for more. It is so amazing the seemingly inconsequential details of the story – like the way Sobran and Xas sit together on various meetings, how they drink their wine through two glasses or sharing a bottle between them, the way Sobran anticipates and prepares for Xas’ meeting each year, all these small details form the core of the story. They have depths and meanings that you just have to reread to realize. Xas himself, who remembers everything, brings some of these details to our attention. Like when one year Sobran kissed his hand and called him “his beloved friend” while the next year Sobran calls Xas his “dear friend” Xas is compelled to comment “oh? A demotion?”. The observation leaves Sobran baffled but makes us appreciate how lovingly crafted each detail is, as though a hint to the reader of the inner workings of the characters' minds.

Something else I have to mention is the characterization of Xas and Sobran. I never quite realized the strength of Sobran’s character until we hear other character’s discussing him. This is because when he is yearning for Xas we can sympathise with him and in his intial talks with Xas he comes off as the one in need of counsel and guidance but this is because we are seeing Sobran in his most private moments. The other characters though tell us of his public life – of how he was one of the most influential and respected people in the village: it was because of him and his love for Baptiste that the Saint of Gunners was more prominent in the Church than the Saint of Wine, when he decides to stop coming to the Church so do the rest of the community, and so on. You can suddenly understand why Xas is as much drawn to Sobran as Sobran is to Xas. Similarly in the beginning to both us and Sobran Xas seems an enigma, a powerful being that we can only be in awe of but as their friendship deepens it feels like Xas is the more lost one – stuck as he is as a treaty between God and Lucifer, lonely as he is with very few friendships to sustain him, perplexed as he is by his desire to understand humanity and human emotions. 

The love story that features in the book between the angel and the vintner is so evocative and romantic I hardly know what to say on the subject. But Xas and Sobran aren’t the only interesting characters in the book – there is Baptiste who is Sobran’s childhood friend and lover because of whom Sobran leaves his family and wife and his vineyard so he can follow him into the army. When he comes back after Baptiste’s death he cherishes the vineyard that Baptiste left him in his will more than his own and is often seen walking among his friend’s land reminiscing. Sobran’s employer – the Baroness Aurora grows to play an important part of Sobran’s life and their friendship is heart warming and sweet. I love that everyone thought the Baroness and Sobran were lovers, even both their children, long before they ever were and when they were it was almost as if by accident. Baptiste, Sobran’s son named after his long-gone friend, is another compelling character because he is obnoxious and rude to Niall Cayley not out of a dislike for him but out of love and jealousy. Jealousy because he thinks Niall is his father’s illegitimate son and that his father loves him more than any of his other sons and love because despite thinking Niall is his half brother (he isn’t since it is simply Xas under another name) he falls for him. Paul, Aurora’s son, his friendship with Sobran’s and his relationship with Sobran’s daughter is just as intriguing. There is even a wonderful scene where Lucifer appears and I must say it was one of the best scenes in book which is saying something filled as it is with richly imaginative words forming wonderful pictures in the mind’s eye.

The beauty in Elizabeth Knox's writing is that it is so unpredictable one hardly knows where to expect the narrative to take us. Not only that but the language is so lovingly crafted and so elegantly phrased that reading seems like savouring something delicious that lingers till long after it has been tasted.

dawn

Bawled like a fucking baby on the last leg of the book. Definitely one to re-read, but not for another year or so; my poor battered heart needs time to come to terms with this book

Lisa-Maria Hofmann

Clare B

Kathy Rodger 

Burgundy, 1808, and one midsummer night a young vintner named Sobran Jodeau meets an angel in his vineyard. They meet every year thereafter; and despite the vicissitudes both of world history and village life, the vintages keep improving.

The Vintner's Luck A Novel

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