The New York Times bestselling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel.The heiress . . .The Resistance fighter . . . The widow . . .Three women whose fates are joined by one … . .
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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I loved the characters. Didn’t want it to end.
Three women. Three time periods. Three interesting stories that are tied together in one outstanding book. This was such a amazing read!
I don’t know how three authors can pen a story together, to make each of their thoughts and ideas flow together, to make a captivating story that I personally, as a reader, became so entangled in. I felt like I was living the lives of the three women in the book.
This is the first book that I have read by Williams, Willig, and White and I am super impressed by their work. This will definitely not be the last now that I have discovered their stories. I highly recommend All the Ways We Said Goodbye if you like, or love, historical fiction. This is one of the best that I have read
This was a great read! A little long and drawn out toward the end, but very riveting. Tragic time and so many lost lives…the world needs to be sure nothing like this ever happens again.
/ 5
I am thoroughly impressed with All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White. I mostly listened to it on audio and I loved the three narrators; I thought they each did an excellent job of reading their characters.
If you gravitate towards historical fiction novel with strong female leads then look no further, All the Ways We Said Goodbye has that and more. It was such an intricate plot that spans three different characters and three different time periods. I loved Aurelie, Marguerite and Babs all so very much and I was equally interested in all three of their stories which doesn’t always happen for me. I really loved the way all of them ended up being tied to each other, and there were a lot of surprises that I didn’t see coming.
I can scarcely believe this book was written by three different authors, and I thought it flowed as if only one person had written it. I loved the writing, the plot, the tears, the happiness, and the romance. I honestly can’t think of a single bad thing to say about All the Ways We Said Goodbye because I loved it so much. I don’t really want to touch on the plot too much to keep the secrecy, and I think the synopsis tells you all you need to know.
Final Thought: If you love historical fiction and like at least one of these authors then I highly recommend checking out All the Ways We Said Goodbye, especially on audio. The audio really brought the book to life for me and there was more than once I was ugly crying in my car. The story was very moving, and I hope everyone loves these characters as much as I did! I can’t wait to read more from this collaboration of authors.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book, all opinions and thoughts are my own.
All The Ways We Said Goodbye is a three- part historical fiction, romance, mystery piece all wrapped into one spectacular package. It is cowritten by Willig, Williams, and White.
This is a delicious piece that alternates between main female characters each during a different time (1914, 1942, 1964). I loved the intrigue and the mystery, and how the authors were able to impressively intertwine their stories together to create a riveting and satisfying end.
I loved all three women and felt that they were all realistic, imperfect, and strong women. I enjoyed reading from the viewpoint of different authors, as I have never read a book like this before.
It was harrowing, gripping, romantic, bittersweet, and a breath of fresh air amongst the current selections of HF.
I highly recommend this gem.
5/5 stars
Three women, three different time periods, three different situations, but they all find the Ritz of Paris to be their comfort zone.
We meet Aurelie in 1914 who lived at the Ritz with her mother. She needed to get away and had the perfect excuse. She drove her fiancée to the front, and on her way back, her car was shot up. She thankfully was near her father’s estate and walked there to only find she would be stuck there because the Nazis had arrived and had taken over the estate.
We meet Daisy in 1942 who was raised by her grandmother at the Ritz and who eventually helped her grandmother with the resistance.
Then we meet Babs in 1964 whose husband had been in the war and had befriended La Fleur who was a resistance fighter. Babs wants to find out who La Fleur was since her husband called out her name a number of times before his death. She also meets at the Ritz with an American lawyer who is also looking for La Fleur.
There are quite a few characters to keep straight, but the main characters are strong, brave, and very likeable.
Babs was my favorite…her story had me laughing at some of the things she did and said.
Aurelie’s story was the most interesting because of her situation but was the most upsetting.
I admired Daisy for what she was doing for the French Resistance, and enjoyed reading about another way things were secretly done.
The 3W’s did it again!! ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE is another marvelous, well-researched, difficult-to-put-down tale.
We readers are again treated to their detailed writing, terrific story line, and smooth transition from one author to the next, but have a notebook handy to keep all the characters straight.
Do not miss reading this gem. 5/5
This book was given to me by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
A family lineage book. Written by three different authors This book follows the lives of three different women over the years 1914,1942 and 1964 all set in a hotel in France and tells the story of them and lost loves. Very well written and emotional. It was a good storyline and fast and smooth to read. Really enjoyed it.
The 3 W’s have done it again! This is another amazing book with such wonderful characters written by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. All the Ways We Said Goodbye takes us to France 1914 with Aurelie , also to France but in 1942 with Daisy, and finally to France in 1964 with Babs. These 3 women are incredibly strong and brave. I loved each of the women’s story and how they intertwined. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.