Bood Review: All The Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White

One in a while I love to read some historical fiction about WWI or WWII, I keeps me grounded and I know it will give me a good cry, which is why I don't read too many of them, but I do like to get a few of them in, do you know what I mean?  I hope so.  Anyways, when I saw that  Beatriz Williams, who I read Summer Wives last year, which I loved, was coming up with a book about not only about WWII but also WWI, I knew I was going to read it, but the book was also cowritten, so it give me another change to introduce to other authors, win, win for me!  Let's jump in to the revivew:

All The Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White

The heiress . . .
The Resistance fighter . . .
The widow . . .
Three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel

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. . . .

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The story follows three different woman, on three different time lines.  One woman during WWI, one woman during WWI and the last woman during the 60s.  What do these woman have in common?  Everything and nothing and the same time.

During WWI, we meet Aurelie, who is the daughter of Comte Courcelles and the American heiress.  She finds herself on the wrong side of the war and trapped with her father int he front of the war.  When the Germans move in to her family's estate, she discovers that Max Von Sternburg is among them, a German she first met during her debutante days in Paris.  Max and Aurelie find themselves falling in love despite all the wrongness going on around them, but much too soon Aurelie finds herself in Paris and the Ritz with her heiress mother with unexpected consequences.

During WWII, Daisy was raised by her American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, she now has two kids and married to a Nazi collaborator after France falls to Hitler.  Daisy finds herself in a very difficult position between her grandmother and her husband.  After much thought she agrees to assist her grandmother's Resistance efforts and becomes a courier for a skilled forger.  What she didn't realized was by agreeing to it was that she would fall in love with the English forger named Legrand.  When Daisy and Legrand's lives are at risk, she will find out more than she wanted about her family history and lose more than she ever wanted at the same time.

France, 1964 we meet Babs, her husband has been dead for one year.  She receives a letter from an American lawyer, Drew, who's father served with her husband during the war.  He wants her help to find, Le Fleur.  She joins Drew, because she has heard that name coming from her husband before.  And together they will go on a journey to find not only Le Fleur but much more than they were looking for.

This book was amazing, it's love, war and everything in between.  I loved the going back and forth in the time frame.  I loved getting to know these three woman, getting to know what happen during WWI and WWII and what each of those two woman did, but also what different things people had to go through during those times.  And the different love stories, that was so touching and wonderful.   Just a warning, the beginning of the book may be a little slow but once you get through the first quarter of it, you will not be able to put it down. 

Totally recommend it, I also got an eARC from Netgalley.

5 out of 5 stars.

XOXO,

Nelia