Book Description Review “All three of these “team W” writers create engaging characters and complex relationships while setting a tone that matches the story’s time period…The twist at the center of the story is worth the price of admission on its own. A great choice for anyone looking for clever historical fiction with plenty of drama, action, and surprises in every chapter.” (Library Journal )“Full of heart and intrigue, the authors’ latest collaboration captures women’s perseverance and how history connects us all.” (Booklist )“Three historical fiction powerhouses combine efforts to create an enthralling adventure spanning from the onset of World War I to the 1960s, telling the story of three women and their stay at the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris.” (Book Riot)“A sweeping historical novel about the strength of women who find themselves in impossible situations.” (Popsugar)“Well-researched and cohesively written, this historical novel reflects the strength of these women as they struggle to survive during turbulent times.” (Orange County Register )This triumvirate of historical fiction writers team up once again to tell the stories of three very different women whose lives intertwine across the decades in Paris’ legendary Ritz Hotel.” (The Palm Beach Post )“For most people, staying at a grand hotel is a rare treat. It’s a time to indulge in luxury, to be catered to with impeccable service and to forget about the outside world until check-out. It’s not unlike the experience a reader gets when reading All the Ways We Said Goodbye.” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution )“An elegantly scripted and multi-layered novel that showcases the three co-author’s impressive literary skills with narrative driven storytelling, All the Ways We Said Goodbye . . . is an inherently fascinating, multi-generational read from beginning to end.” (Midwest Book Review) Read more About the Author Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Golden Hour, The Summer Wives, A Hundred Summers, and The Wicked Redhead. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty novels, including The Summer Country, The Ashford Affair, and The English Wife, as well as the RITA Award–winning Pink Carnation series. An alumna of Yale University, she has a graduate degree in history from Harvard and a JD from Harvard Law School. She lives in New York City with her husband, kindergartner, toddler, and vast quantities of coffee.Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Dreams of Falling and The Night the Lights Went Out. She currently writes what she refers to as “grit lit”—Southern women’s fiction—and has also expanded her horizons into writing a mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. She is a graduate of the American School in London and has a BS in management from Tulane University. When not writing, she spends her time reading, singing, and avoiding cooking. She has two grown children and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two spoiled Havanese dogs. Read more Customers Review: 3 great authors make for 1 great reading experience. “All the Ways We Said Goodbye” is really a family saga that spans 50+ years from 1914 – 1964. There are historical elements, due to the setting being France and two of the time periods being WW 1& 2. All three authors excell in this genre and have woven their talents together, seamlessly. Each chapter is clearly marked and designated to one of the heroine’s: Aurelie, Daisy & Babs.Lots of romance, a good mystery, a plot twist you WILL NOT expect and history with adventure to satisfy just about every reading preference. The prose is rich without being overly descriptive and the dialogue moves the story along at a good clip; almost 450 pages go flying by. There’s no gratuitous violence or sexual content and the language is clean; easily an Hallmark MOTW contender.If you’re a fan of any of these 3 authors, all three together or just are looking for a good historical saga with a twist, “All the Ways We Said Goodbye” is a wonderful choice
These ladies do not disappoint. If you’ve read THE GLASS OCEAN OR THE FORGOTTEN ROOM, you know what I’m talking about. As in to the Third Power of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. The dynamic trio have come together again to write another novel that will tug at your heart, leave you in suspense, and hoping for love to find its way. This is ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE: A NOVEL OF THE RITZ PARIS.Three women whose stories are united by a hotel. Not just any hotel but the glamorous Ritz in Paris. Set decades apart from one another, during tumultuous times in our world history. The lengths people will go to, especially during wartime, are extreme. As is the strength these women will prove to possess.The authors have a way of not only luring you into their character’s lives and rooting for a specific outcome, but they also create edge-of-your-seat intrigue, all tied up with a what would you do for love scenario. Or in this case, scenarios.Three heroines, three timelines, one illustrious hotel, and mais oui, three authors, equals an enthralling work of historical fiction.
Loved this book! I am thrilled that I am able to review All the Ways We Said Goodbye by Williams, Willig, and White because I have enjoyed their two previous books and think this team of women does an amazing job writing together. All the Ways We Said Goodbye is my favorite book that the three of them have done together. I thought having three stories set in two different wars and the third trying to investigate things that happened in the earlier two stories was clever and also powerful. The theme of the stories is survival, and love and what it means to be a “formidable woman.” Each of the three women do brave things in the face of hardship even though they think they are not strong. But each woman proves that they are “formidable” in the challenges they face, where that challenge is the German army or their guilt over their own actions. Each woman shows their true strength.The tie in this novel is a place, just like the previous two novels, but this time it is the Ritz hotel in Paris. It is a powerful setting, but not as strong as the women who lived through the difficult times. Babs is a British woman who recently lost her husband and is trying to learn about the woman he lived while a spy in Paris during World War II. Aurelie is a young woman raised in Paris at the Ritz, but who wants to help save France from the Germans, and meets her destiny in her family’s castle as it is occupied by the German army. And Daisy is raised by her Grandmother at the Ritz, and it is through her that she begins working with a spy network in Paris to help Jewish people escape the Nazi’s.
This wonderful novel includes three timelines, flowing seamlessly one to another, three heroines and a lot of overlap of generations. Babs Langdon decides after 20 years to uncover her late husband’s great love in Paris. Romance, danger, and mystery ensue as we learn about the noble Coucelles family and their struggles in both world wars. If you have read anything by any of the three writers you know their writing is terrific. If not, what a treat you have in store.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I’ve read all 3 of the Team W books and this one is my second favorite right behind The Forgotten Room which was their first endeavor together.I loved how they made an entire novel all about WW 1 & WW 2, which had me nervous and anxious many times, yet didn’t describe graphic details of brutality, rape or torture. We all know it happened but I didn’t have to read it which I greatly appreciate as that is one of the reasons I generally don’t read WW 2 novels. I read to have fun and that other stuff upsets me deeply. This book captured the stress and uncertainties of war time and did it so tastefully that I enjoyed the experience!As to the story itself, you read about 3 different girls who in the end their stories are all intertwined and connected in ways you start to unravel as you go. There were a few parts of the story I felt were too contrived or not realistic and then there were some other parts that weren’t fairytale perfect enough for my tastes! So, who am I to complain and nitpick? I’m not the one sitting there trying to make all 3 stories work and make sense! All in all I think it was a fabulous book and I motored through it rapidly because it held my attention so thoroughly.Several characters are very witty and made me laugh out loud which is always a good sign if a book can do that! Especially one about war…I can’t wait to see what Team W have up their sleeve next. They are certainly a great Team! |
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