Natalie MacLean

I'd never heard of Natalie MacLean when I bought this book at a local vineyard. I like biographies, and wine, and Canadian authors so I bought it. Then left it on the TBR shelves for over a year. Typical!

This is the story of a terrible year in Ms. MacLean's life. Her husband of 24 years asks for a divorce and moves out. She is the subject of allegations about her writing online, putting her career and her income at risk. She is drinking too much. Worried about her teenaged son. Helping her show more aging mother. Trying to navigate a very different dating world.

The book is well written, with honesty and humour. She also draws parallels between her experiences with the online trolls and historical witch hunts, which is well done. The book also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the wine industry and the business of reviewing wine. It's often not a pretty picture with lots of misogyny to contend with. The scene where she sees her online attackers in person for the first time since the "scandal" was especially well written and honest.

An interesting read. show less

Before picking up this book I had no idea who Natalie MacLean was, but I was so intrigued that I ended up reading this whole book in one day! Natalie MacLean is an award winning Canadian wine writer - which if you're reading this you probably already know - but I know nothing about wine (I am a bottom shelf gal) and I have never read any of her columns, articles, blog, or podcasts. Even though I didn't know of her - I was pretty quickly won over with her engaged and honest writing. Wine show more Witch on Fire details the years of her divorce and the "scandal" that almost ended her career. The wine industry (like most food and drink industries) is teeming with sexism and "boys club" mentality; which MacLean really goes into towards the end of the book. She recounts with brutal honesty what went down, her reactions and feelings (as well as her ever increasing drinking) and she doesn't come off smelling like a rose, BUT, it humanizes her and makes her story even more compelling. Another aspect I really liked, was learning about different aspects of the wine industry and getting some wine recommendations throughout her biography. I had no idea what went on behind the scenes of wine writing and it was fascinating. Engaging biography - now I want to read her other two books! show less

Natalie MacLean writes a strong reflection of a difficult time when her work life and personal life crashed and burned. She takes full accountability for her own mistakes and peels back the layers of questionable practices and misogynistic reality in the wine industry. The internet has brought many blessings but the realities of its use for defamation (and witch-hunts) should prompt us to look more carefully at what we believe. MacLean writes with vulnerable honesty and good humor.

In this memoir MacLean recounts her annus horribilis, 2012, in which she describes her separation, drinking and harrowing experience with Internet trolls. There is a lot of information to unpack and it's not always linear: questions about her relationships with men; substance abuse and addiction; misogyny in the wine industry. The narrative is at times both confusing and repetitive, with a witch that weaves in and out, sometimes awkwardly.
However, I really enjoyed the raw vulnerability of show more the book, its conversational tone, and the peak inside the rarefied world of wine. I've started looking into MacLean's offerings and she is incredibly knowledgeable and approachable - this book definitely shows all that she is: competitive, anxious, brave, fun and incompromising. show less