Review: Every Time We Say Goodbye

I’ve been reading Natalie Jenner’s work since her debut novel, The Jane Austen Society, was released in 2020. She writes really thoughtful and quite interesting historical fiction stories with characters who feel so familiar even though they lived so long ago. Every Time We Say Goodbye is her latest and readers will recognize some of the characters in this tale and will feel as though it’s like revisiting an old friend.

Here’s the book’s description:

In 1955, Vivien Lowry is facing the greatest challenge of her life. Her latest play, the only female-authored play on the London stage that season, has opened in the West End to rapturous applause from the audience. The reviewers, however, are not as impressed as the playgoers and their savage notices not only shut down the play but ruin Lowry's last chance for a dramatic career. With her future in London not looking bright, at the suggestion of her friend, Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien takes a job in as a script doctor on a major film shooting in Rome’s Cinecitta Studios. There she finds a vibrant movie making scene filled with rising stars, acclaimed directors, and famous actors in a country that is torn between its past and its potentially bright future, between the liberation of the post-war cinema and the restrictions of the Catholic Church that permeates the very soul of Italy.
As Vivien tries to forge a new future for herself, she also must face the long-buried truth of the recent World War and the mystery of what really happened to her deceased fiancé. Every Time We Say Goodbye is a brilliant exploration of trauma and tragedy, hope and renewal, filled with dazzling characters both real and imaginary, from the incomparable author who charmed the world with her novels The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls.

There was something niggling at me while reading this one, making me wonder why I wasn’t loving it as I expected to. As talented as I think Jenner is, I didn’t feel like she quite brought all the stories together in a cohesive way. There was a lot going on - in two timelines - with a lot of characters. Probably too many characters. I appreciated that Jenner wanted to include some of the real folks who would have been in Italy at that time (Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner to name two), but I felt they didn’t really add anything to the story. Another blogger put it well when we were talking about why this one didn’t hit as we expected. We both love Natasha Lester’s novels and she is a master at sharing information about a specific topic (usually fashion in Lester’s case and the film industry in Jenner’s) and weaving a historical story around it. The weave in Jenner’s story was loose and I think that’s why we were struggling a bit.

All that said, I didn’t find this to be a bad book. I was still interested in the story and wanted to find out how it all ended. I was invested in Vivien’s life and wondered how the tale of la scolaretta would unfold. How did a young, female resistance fighter tie into Vivien’s story? (You’ll have to read it to find out, obviously!)

I remember learning about the Hollywood blacklist and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) way back in university. It’s a fascinating and heartbreaking part of history. So many folks in the film industry were pressured to give up information on their colleagues during the witch hunts simply because Hollywood was trying to prove they were patriotic and not supporting communism. Jenner’s novel didn’t feature the hearings or what was happening in Hollywood. Instead, it showcased how many American filmmakers fled to Europe (the reverse of what happened during the war) to avoid persecution. I don’t think I’ve come across many novels that feature this so heavily and I’d be interested in reading more fiction stories about it.

Even with the inclusion of the WWII storyline, Jenner’s novel is a quieter historical fiction tale. She’s explored topics and a point in time that some may not have read about (I certainly haven’t seen it often in novels) and gives us a glimpse of what life could have been like in 1950s Rome. The war is behind them, but the effects of it were still being felt strongly and on an almost daily basis. It’s not going to be for everyone but if you’re genuinely interested in history and getting a feel of what the time period could have been like? Jenner’s novels are for you.

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner wasn’t a winner for me but I’m still glad I read it. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the film industry of 1950s Rome and revisiting characters I had met in her previous novels.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Press, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*