‘Black Odesa’ Book Review: A new vinous Felix Hart adventure by Peter Stafford-Bowe – Wine blog UK

This is the fifth novel in the series following the heavily intoxicated, hazardous and embattled wine professional, Felix Hart, on his Odyssey of degeneracy. Stafford-Bowe takes his lead character’s (sort of) glamorous life as a wine buyer and lets it unravel into hilarious death-defying chaos.

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The London-phase of Black Odesa is particularly enjoyable, where Hart is lured into being an aspiring social media star and, with soaring success, turns the journey towards fame into insanely funny episodes that leap off the page. For some reason, the Bacchus voiceover bit had me chortling on the beach while I was waiting for the eclipse, looking guiltily around to rein in my enthusiasm. 

Press trip madness

Press trips are a much underused fertile ground for fiction, especially wine trips, where the dangers of excessive imbibing can potentially inject unforeseen narratives. Hart’s journey to Eastern Europe and the Black Sea depicts many familiar aspects of a press trip – the guide, the strict itinerary, the expectation of posts etc. – except in Black Odesa, Hart is on a propaganda mission that could not go more catastrophically wrong.