All the Ways We Said Goodbye
Fiction
William Morrow
January 14, 2020
Hardcover
448
Free from publisher
France, 1914. As war breaks out, Aurelie becomes trapped on the wrong side of the front with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles. When the Germans move into their family’s ancestral estate, using it as their headquarters, Aurelie discovers she knows the German Major’s aide de camp, Maximilian Von Sternburg. She and the dashing young officer first met during Aurelie’s debutante days in Paris. Despite their conflicting loyalties, Aurelie and Max’s friendship soon deepens into love, but betrayal will shatter them both, driving Aurelie back to Paris and the Ritz— the home of her estranged American heiress mother, with unexpected consequences.
France, 1942. Raised by her indomitable, free-spirited American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, Marguerite “Daisy” Villon remains in Paris with her daughter and husband, a Nazi collaborator, after France falls to Hitler. At first reluctant to put herself and her family at risk to assist her grandmother’s Resistance efforts, Daisy agrees to act as a courier for a skilled English forger known only as Legrand, who creates identity papers for Resistance members and Jewish refugees. But as Daisy is drawn ever deeper into Legrand’s underground network, committing increasingly audacious acts of resistance for the sake of the country—and the man—she holds dear, she uncovers a devastating secret . . . one that will force her to commit the ultimate betrayal, and to confront at last the shocking circumstances of her own family history.
France, 1964. For Barbara “Babs” Langford, her husband, Kit, was the love of her life. Yet their marriage was haunted by a mysterious woman known only as La Fleur. On Kit’s death, American lawyer Andrew “Drew” Bowdoin appears at her door. Hired to find a Resistance fighter turned traitor known as “La Fleur,” the investigation has led to Kit Langford. Curious to know more about the enigmatic La Fleur, Babs joins Drew in his search, a journey of discovery that that takes them to Paris and the Ritz—and to unexpected places of the heart.
My review:
The writing trio of Williams, Willig and White (known as the three W's) has teamed up again in this, their third collaborative novel (The Forgotten Room and The Glass Ocean being the previous two). I have read each of these authors extensively, and I still can't figure out who is writing what part no matter how hard I try. In other words, the writing is seamless as we move from character to character. In this book we follow three women across many decades, including two world wars. Aurelie during WWI, Daisy WWII, and Babs in the 1960's. What appears that each of them have in common is a stay at the Ritz hotel in Paris. Of course as the novel progresses we can guess that they may be more connected than that. I enjoyed all of the women's stories, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be Daisy. Something about a good undercover courier just fascinates me! As stated above, I found the writing to be stellar, the characters were well drawn, and the ending tied everything up with a bow 🙂 I probably should have given it another star, but to be honest I'm a bit worn out by war stories so may not have been an entirely captive audience right now.
I thoroughly enjoyed that well written historical fiction novel intertwining the lives of three women through multiple decades at one famous Paris landmark. I'm determined that someday I'll figure out which author wrote which parts!
