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A review by book_concierge
All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Lauren Willig, Karen White, Beatriz Williams
3.0
Book on CD performed by Helen Saddler, Nicola Barber, and Saskia Maarleveld.
Subtitle: A novel of the Ritz Paris
Three women are linked by the legend of the talisman of Courcelles. In 1914, Aurelie de Courcelles works with her father at their Picardy estate, leaving her mother in Paris at the Ritz. The chateau is “commandeered” by the occupying Germans, and Aurelie risks all to safeguard her home and her country. In 1942, while the Nazi’s occupy Paris, Daisy joins the resistance efforts, working from a bookshop. And in 1964, Babs Langford receives a letter at her English estate after her husband has died giving her a clue to his activities during the war which haunted him. Her search for the mysterious “la Fleur” takes her to the Ritz in Paris where she meets the American who is also searching for answers to clear his father’s name.
I assume that each author took responsibility for one of these women’s storyline. The book is told from their three perspectives in alternating chapters. I figured out the two main “secrets” almost as soon as they were introduced, but it was interesting to see how the authors chose to reveal them, and the ramifications on Babs of the discovery.
I’m getting tired of the war-time stories and these three authors used many of the tropes common to such historical fiction: quiet, mousy woman blossoms with a new wardrobe and the attention of a handsome man; “enemy” who is really a noble gentleman; danger of discovery for resistance workers; and the aforementioned “secrets” that are hardly surprising any longer.
The audiobook is narrated by three talented voice artists, each taking responsibility for a different main character (though it was never noted which artist voiced which character). This did help to keep the different storylines straight.
Subtitle: A novel of the Ritz Paris
Three women are linked by the legend of the talisman of Courcelles. In 1914, Aurelie de Courcelles works with her father at their Picardy estate, leaving her mother in Paris at the Ritz. The chateau is “commandeered” by the occupying Germans, and Aurelie risks all to safeguard her home and her country. In 1942, while the Nazi’s occupy Paris, Daisy joins the resistance efforts, working from a bookshop. And in 1964, Babs Langford receives a letter at her English estate after her husband has died giving her a clue to his activities during the war which haunted him. Her search for the mysterious “la Fleur” takes her to the Ritz in Paris where she meets the American who is also searching for answers to clear his father’s name.
I assume that each author took responsibility for one of these women’s storyline. The book is told from their three perspectives in alternating chapters. I figured out the two main “secrets” almost as soon as they were introduced, but it was interesting to see how the authors chose to reveal them, and the ramifications on Babs of the discovery.
I’m getting tired of the war-time stories and these three authors used many of the tropes common to such historical fiction: quiet, mousy woman blossoms with a new wardrobe and the attention of a handsome man; “enemy” who is really a noble gentleman; danger of discovery for resistance workers; and the aforementioned “secrets” that are hardly surprising any longer.
The audiobook is narrated by three talented voice artists, each taking responsibility for a different main character (though it was never noted which artist voiced which character). This did help to keep the different storylines straight.