Rating: 
Summary: This is what a book should be!
Review: Midnight Champagne is my favorite of all of Ansay's published work. The structure of the book is ingenius; the various pathos, observations, grudges and relationships between guests at a wedding involve the reader in each and every character. At least this reader cared about each and every character, and I appreciated the neat resolution of each character's particular conflict/story arc. Many of the observations in this book are laugh-out-loud hilarious (echos of Anne Tyler), and others are bittersweet (also echos of Anne Tyler). This book makes me hope that Ansay is enjoying a respite from her illness and that she will release another book soon. There is also the element of the mystical (echos of Alice Hoffman) which serves to pull the separate arcs of this novel into one fnal bittersweet family view.
Rating:
Summary: Ansay Has Redeemed Herself
Review: After forcing myself to finish that vile book, Vinegar Hill, I vowed I would never read another of A. Manette Ansay's books. But she has redeemed herself with Midnight Champagne. Never have I seen as many complex topics as spousal abuse, divorce, and adolescent strife, handled so masterfully in such a short story. How clever a setting--the wedding of April and Caleb. One night that brings together family and strangers in the midst of a Wisconsin blizzard. As the plot reveals itself, Ansay's writing reveals her to be a worthy author. And while I threw my copy of Vinegar Hill in the trash (not wanting to spread more bile upon the earth) I will be recommending Midnight Champagne to all my friends. I look forward to reading her other books, including Angel Falls.
Rating: 
Summary: White Lace and Promises
Review: All the reviews set me up for a major dissapointment with this one. What promised to be a complex and comical read was like a first draft of a bigger, better story. It doesn't grab you until midway, if then. Using the guests at the wedding to pursue so many (too many?)complex topics...love, marriage, infidelity,spousal abuse... was effective. But, each issue appears quickly and dissappears just as fast. There are a lot of disconnected essays and character sketches set in the middle of a tacky wedding. Characters are not fleshed out. It's hard to care about what happens to anyone in this story. Given about 200 more pages this could have been a much more satisfying read.
No more Ansay for me.
Rating:
Summary: A Whirlwind of Suspense
Review: Ansay takes multiple characters and creates a book that captivates readers. In "Midnight Champagne" Ansay tells a story of two couples from opposite worlds and connects all of them together. It begins as a young couples spur of the moment wedding after only three months of dating and adds a couple from across the road that has a secret and the two stories slowly begin to connect.Ansay has a collection of characters in the novel that she releases as if they are all the main character. Every character that readers come in contact with they know before the story ends. Ansay did an excellent job in writing each characters story along with their personality. In the beginning the number of different characters is confusing and thought must be placed into who is who; however, shortly after the definition of each character has been placed and no thinking back is required. The book has so many different elements to it that make it exceptional. There is humor, mystery, drama, comedy and family all tied into one novel. It is a truly captivating book that is hard to stop reading once started. Ansay is a good writer with wit and creativity that allows readers to become interested in a book in such a short amount of time. "Midnight Champagne" is a short read and is quite easy. There is a few areas of profanity and sexuality but it adds to the "flavor" of the story that Ansay is trying to tell.
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Summary: Another winner
Review: I read an article of Ms. Ansay in People magazine recently and was sorry to learn she has MS. I had heard of her long before that when I read Vinegar Hill, which was very impressive. But Midnight Champagne is extremely compelling and funny enough to make me laugh out loud in parts as it contemplates each person's thoughts on the marriage union. The scene where Margo bawls about her brother calling her a prostitute and the whole crowd turns around was hilarious. With all the characters, you'd think we would get people mixed up, but I was able to keep them straight for a change...the disapproving mother-in-law, the jilted wife, the ex-boyfriend whom everyone loved. MC is a winner.
Rating: 
Summary: A Solid Read
Review: I thought this book was pretty good, I did not dislike anything about it, but I felt that it could have been better. The story mainly centers around the wedding and reception of April Liesgang and Caleb Shannon. The story moves around to different characters of the family and also a couple that is staying in the lodge where the wedding is being held. Although I thought there were too many characters/sub stories going on, it was not difficult to follow because Ansay's writing flows nicely. I would recommend this book as a weekend read or an in-between book -- it's a fairly short book, and reads fast. I would also recommend Ansay's *Vinegar Hill*.
Rating: 
Summary: Another excellent example of Ansay's work
Review: If you enjoy A. Manette Ansay, then this book is a must read. I was hard pressed to let these characters go after the story ended. Highly recommended to fans of her writing!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: In Midnight Champagne, Ansay digs into the lives of about a dozen characters to tell the one big story of real love, real marriage and the tedious balance of the relationships they maneuver. Caleb and April are getting married in a chapel/hotel that's rumored to be haunted, which pales in importance next to the baggage that haunts their hastily-planned wedding... April's family can't figure out why she's broken things off with her ex-boyfriend whom they all loved, her father had to beg her out of just saying her vows in front of the justice-of-the-peace, and her grandmother is so distraught that the ceremony isn't taking place in a church that she arrives early to hang a crucifix in the chapel. At the same time another story is taking place in suite thirty-three where an argument between a husband and wife turns deadly. Ansay tenderly draws a line between these two stories in a way that can be startling, but not disturbing. Ansay brings back the art of story-telling in such masterful way. With so much emphasis being placed on an author's verbal flair these days, it seems we've forgotten what a truly good story is. Midnight Champagne encompasses both these talents in a remarkable way. Ansay's explorations of what love is and what it means in a marriage is very courageous, but expressed so tenderly... that love does not eliminate loneliness, but often creates it. She places Chekhov's astounding quote at the very beginning of her book, "If you fear loneliness, then marriage is not for you." It's a bold statement that sets the pace for this very bold story.
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Summary: Lord, I love this woman's writing
Review: Manette Ansay is, hands down, one of my favorite authors. This is her fourth novel, and in it she applies her mystical slant of mind and prose to a snug little tale about a wedding. Ansay was raised Catholic, and she writes of modern Catholic issues with an insiders point of view. In this book, the wedding, a nondenominational one held in 'a hall' during a raging snowstorm, is as confused and conflicted as are the lives of the characters. There's even a murder in this book - and a ghost. The metaphysical events multiply, and we find ourselves drawn more and more deeply into the stunning depths of this bittersweet tale. Wow.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Likeable Book********
Review: Much better than her Vinegar Hill, Ansay shimmers in this. The characters are silly, flawed, and plain real. Having not read many stories about weddings, I have little to compare it to. It was a nice escape, pleasant to follow, & overall a delightful change from some dramas I've been delving into.
I definitely will read more of her.
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