Book tells story behind Veuve Clicquot Champagne

     How serendipitous is this? Just as Hilary Swank buys the rights to the French Women Don’t Get Fat book (see item above), written by a female exec of the Champagne house Veuve Clicquot, here comes a book about the founder of that company.

       It’s called The Widow Clicquot: The History of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled it. The book stars Barbe–Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin (1777–1866) as the “veuve,” which is French for widow.

     After the death of her husband, whatshisname, she took over the winery and made it a success. He gets no credit at all.