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.* 

Review: The Rome Affair

I've been reading Karen Swan's novels for awhile now. They're always delightful but the last few have been a bit...lacking. When I received The Rome Affair a few weeks ago, I read the synopsis and thought: yes. This...this sounds really promising. Happily, I was right. Swan's latest book kept me engaged from the first page to the last and I never wanted to put it down. 

Here's the synopsis:

The glamorous capital city of Italy is brought to startling life in The Rome Affair, a compelling summer novel by Karen Swan.
1974 and Elena Damiani lives a gilded life. Born to wealth and a noted beauty, no door is closed to her, no man can resist her. At twenty-six, she is already onto her third husband when she meets her love match. But he is the one man she can never have, and all the beauty and money in the world can't change it.
2017 and Francesca Hackett is living la dolce vita in Rome, leading tourist groups around the Eternal City and forgetting the ghosts she left behind in London. When she finds a stolen designer handbag in her dustbin and returns it, she is brought into the orbit of her grand neighbour who lives across the piazza - famed socialite Viscontessa Elena dei Damiani Pignatelli della Mirandola. Though the purse is stolen, Elena greets the return of the bag with exultation for it contains an unopened letter written by her husband on his deathbed, twelve years earlier.
Mutually intrigued by each other, the two women agree to collaborate on a project, with Cesca interviewing Elena for her memoirs. As summer unfurls, Elena tells her sensational stories, leaving Cesca in her thrall. But when a priceless diamond ring found in an ancient tunnel below the city streets is ascribed to Elena, Cesca begins to suspect a shocking secret at the heart of Elena's life.

The Rome Affair, happily, did what The Paris Secret (Swan's summer 2016 novel) could not. It kept me interested and turning the pages as quick as I could to see exactly how the mystery was going to unfold. Just when you thought you knew how it all turned out, Swan revealed another detail that had you doubting everything. So. Good.

Plus, the actual mystery with all the twists and turns and secrets hidden throughout the years? It will make your head spin at the end. It actually took me awhile of sitting and thinking after I finished it to get a handle on what the hell had just happened and to start to understand the motivation of the characters. I couldn't figure out where Swan was going with most of the story, which was awesome. There was only one thing I had nailed down and that was why Elena had finally decided to have her biography written. The rest? Total mystery.

Elena was a riveting character. Swan managed to write such a larger than life character without having her become a caricature. Because her life? Was insane. She was a wealthy American heiress who eventually became an Italian princess. She partied with Andy Warhol and was friends with Elizabeth Taylor. How could you not be intrigued? 

Cesca was interesting as well, with her own secret, but she served more as a way to get at Elena's story than another protagonist. That was ok, surprisingly enough. But she was such a wicked smart woman that she did manage to shine enough beside Elena. I do wish Swan had managed to write her as a stronger character with an equally riveting story though. Elena and her long and full life overshadowed Cesca a bit, not surprisingly. Random aside: I appreciated that Cesca was tall (though at 5'10" she's still 2" shorter than I am) because there aren't nearly enough female characters who are that tall. It's a small thing but it's something you notice when you're super tall as well! Plus, the fact that Cesca was a blogger too was pretty cool. Oh, and if you wonder exactly what a barrister is (like I was because I'm not British), allow Google to help: "a lawyer entitled to practice as an advocate, particularly in the higher courts".

The Rome Affair is a great book for the summer because it's such an engaging read with so much depth. Plus, it's based in such an interesting and glamorous city. You might not be in Rome but, sitting on the beach with Karen Swan's latest book in hand, you can pretend to be, at least for a little while.

*An ARC was provided by the distributor, Publisher's Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Vacation Reads Challenge: A Year in Europe

Bonjour! I've finished my fifth read for the Vacation Challenge hosted, in part, by Ruby's Reads. I decided to read A Year in Europe by Rachel Hawthorne because it took place in three major European cities - London, Paris, and Rome. I would love to visit any of these cities, especially London and Paris.

Let's start off with the synopsis from Goodreads:

MEET THE GIRLS of A Year in Europe, a collection of three interconnecting novels about the adventures of traveling abroad.
Robin: Her junior year abroad in London takes a surprising turn when she falls for British hottie Kit.
Dana: Paris is the City of Love, and Dana's on a mission to find a gorgeous French boyfriend.
Carrie: She's crazy about Antonio, her Italian dream guy. If Carrie tells him the truth about her American heritage, she might lose him forever.
A Year in Europe. Three unforgettable stories. One unforgettable journey.

Overall, I thought this was a fun read. It was actually kind of nice to read about teenage girls who just wanted to have their first boyfriend instead of reading about women who are looking to jump into bed with someone or a teenage girl who wants to become immortal *cough Twilight cough*. I have to admit that I kept thinking, why are these girls so obsessed with getting a boyfriend and worrying about whether boys like them? Partway through Dana's story I realized that my friends and I used to act like Robin, Dana, and Carrie when we were 16. After that, I put my 16 year old self in their shoes and started to enjoy the book a little more.

I liked that the novel was based around the girls going abroad for a year and living and learning in another country. This is something that I never would have done myself in high school, since I was pretty quiet and liked staying close to home. I could really understand the tough emotions the girls found themselves having while they were away from their hometown, friends, and family. However, I couldn't quite understand why they were so clueless in their new cities. Carrie was the only one who had no problem where she was because her father's Italian and she's fluent in the language. Robin and Dana, on the other hand, had some difficulties - and Robin was only going to London! She had no idea that the "tube" meant the subway and the "boot" meant the trunk of a car. Maybe I'm judging too harshly, but I'm pretty sure I had a rough idea of the most common English lingo when I was their age. I do applaud Dana for heading to a country where she is not fluent in the language though - I can't imagine how difficult that would have been!

England is one of my top dream travel destinations (Scotland, Ireland, and Australia are also up there) so I was definitely most envious of Robin and her year abroad. I'd love to go to Paris as well, but since I'm nowhere near fluent in French, it would be a little more challenging. I took French up until grade 10 (one year past the mandatory French classes us Canadian kids have to take) but I didn't retain much - just enough to excel at the French questions on Jeopardy! :) Regardless, I would love to travel to Paris sometime in my life.

This novel was a fun read, nice and light for the summer. I would definitely recommend it to teenagers who are looking for a good book to lose themselves in. I've read quite a few of Rachel Hawthorne's books before and I've always enjoyed them. It goes to show that just because you're no longer a teenager doesn't mean you can't enjoy a good YA novel every once and awhile. Especially one that takes you to so many wonderful cities!

Happy travels...er...reading, everyone! :)

Vacation Reads Challenge: Burning the Map

First of all, I have to apologize for my apparent disappearance from the blogging world. It's been a whole two weeks since I last posted and I hate that it went on for that long *hangs head in shame* While I know I shouldn't make excuses, I have to say that it's been a crazy couple of weeks (I won't get into details but it involved much stress and hardly any free evenings or weekends). I hope to never go that long without sharing my thoughts on books again! Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you enjoy this MUCH overdue post.

With this review I am halfway done my reads for the Vacation Challenge! It's getting down to the wire and I still have two more to read (plus there's another post in the works...stay tuned!). So far I've "traveled" to Tuscany and Scotland, and with Burning the Map by Laura Caldwell I got to go to Rome and Greece.

Overall this was a fun and easy read - perfect for the summer. This was the kind of book that was great for someone who wants to travel or is about to start a new chapter in their lives - particularly on the job front. Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Picking up a first novel is a bit like unwrapping a present, an exciting peek into the unknown. Laura Caldwell's debut invites readers along on a special trip -- a voyage of self-discovery, with plenty of adventure (romantic and otherwise) and a chance to explore friendships, new and old. Casey Evers is at a turning point in her life. She's just finished her law boards, she's about to start a new job, her workaholic boyfriend is about to pop the question and she's desperate for a last taste of freedom before she settles down to mapping her course through her new, grown-up, self-supporting life. That's why she's talked her two best girlfriends (whom she's seen much too little of since getting serious about John) into a gals-only trip -- a few days in Rome, then a few weeks in the Greek islands. This is Casey's chance to recapture a part of herself she's nearly forgotten -- the wild, fun-loving, passionate woman she may never be free to be again. Casey, Lindsey, and Kat had been like sisters for a decade and little more than passing strangers for the past two years. They've come to make up for all the special times they've missed in the past two years, to try to build a new friendship on the foundations of the old. Far from home, in exotic settings, with plenty of sexy guys and no responsibilities, these three friends learn that emotional baggage is a lot lighter when it's shared.

I checked out Laura Caldwell's website and had realized that I've already read one of her books, The Night I Got Lucky. I enjoyed that one too and it had a similar theme - the protagonist was trying to have her so-called "perfect" life but realizes that what she thought would be perfect may not actually be right for her.

The synopsis also gave me the heads up that Burning the Map was Caldwell's first novel. I didn't think of it at the time but it does make sense that this was her debut. While I liked the characters I feel like they could have been more developed and the storyline was fairly simple. That being said, I really liked the book. The three friends, Casey, Lindsey, and Kat are off on a trip for one last hurrah before Casey settles down to an established job at a law firm. The synopsis also makes it seem like the trip was all about the girls rekindling their close friendship, and while that was a huge part to the story, it was really a struggle to get to the end. I could understand that they had a huge hurdle to overcome (Casey had been distant since she started dating John and focusing on her law career) but there were arguments and pettiness between the girls that I just couldn't quite get over. It was also hard to see these three friends who had been so close become so disconnected. It really made me think about my own friends and what our relationships might be like in the next few years. I'm hoping that we stay close as we establish our "grown up" lives and careers. :)

I also really envied the girls and the vacation they took. They planned out this great trip to Europe and were able to get the money and time off work to go away. I know so many people say that you should just go away without worrying too much about the money, but I guess I'm just a worrier because I couldn't bring myself to spend all my money on a trip when I was just out of university. Of course, now I sort of wish I had but I'm hoping to go on a nice vacation...erm...let's just say soon. It may not be to Italy or Greece - both are places I would love to travel to - but you never know! I would love to travel to those countries partly because of the history Italy and Greece have. Comparatively speaking, I live in a young country (Canada for those of you who didn't know) and our history and development as a country is so different than many European countries. Reading about these girls taking a trip of a lifetime was a lot of fun, even if I was a little bit jealous!

Along with trying to breathe life back into her friendship with Lindsey and Kat, Casey is trying to sort through the second thoughts she's been having about her soon to be permanent law job and her relationship with her boyfriend, John. It's easy for me to say, as a reader and objective third party, that she should have realized there were issues when she was starting to wonder if she was making the right choices. I'm sure if it was me I wouldn't be able to see the problems that were staring me right in the face. In the end, Casey discovers what she should truly be doing and is happy, which is the most important thing. While I think that one of her decisions was very abrupt and could have been dealt with in a slightly different way, I applaud her for going with her heart and doing what she truly loves.

Like I mentioned before, this is a book that's great for someone who's starting a new chapter in their life. Anyone who has been in that position will know that easy answers are hard to come by and you should almost always follow your heart. Unless it's telling you to run off with a goat farmer in a country where you don't speak any of the language and have no hope of finding employment. Then I would at least consult some friends :) Overall, this was a fun read and think many other chick lit lovers would enjoy it as well.

Happy reading!