"The Lilacs Will Bloom Again in Autumn - novel | Bernard Morasin"

Walking back and forth in the middle of the vineyard, Robert Desprieur was disheartened and above all demoralized. Hunched over, he shuffled forward slowly, much like an old man would walk. Indeed, on this late August afternoon, as he entered his vineyard, he felt as if he had aged ten years. Everywhere, the vines seemed exhausted from giving so much for decades. Instead of the long tendrils laden with grapes that used to bring joy and pride to the winemaker, all that could be seen were small, dried-up, sour grapes hanging here and there on meager, stunted shoots... After the Cobden-Chevalier free trade agreement of 1860, French and English distillers could now compete on equal terms. The sale of brandy then greatly enriched all the peasantry of Charente. Land prices soared to dizzying heights. However, around 1870, the Charentais vineyards, like the entire French vineyards, were decimated by phylloxera. The grapevines were uprooted and the lands left fallow. Many people then believed that the region was cursed. Emigrants, especially from Vendée, would take over these lands to cultivate them and introduce cattle farming. Thus, a small, barely visible insect to the naked eye, the phylloxera, originating from America, was responsible for Charentais butter... Bernard Morasin, who lives in Fouras (Charente-Maritime), has for many years built a reputation as a regional novelist. Here is a beautiful novel deeply rooted in the terroir of Charentes, offering a better understanding of the people, the lands, and the history of a recent regional past.