This is type of story I just want to jump into and be apart of. I could get lost in the love letters and stories of an elderly woman like Pauline’s as she tells Seb of her love affair with Henri. Wistful and romantic. I almost wish it wasn’t told in three separate parts/time periods but in a back and forth, ebb and flow throughout the book. I actually feel like that would have served the story as romance a little better. But alas, the author is entitled to her choices. It was a sweet story and I really liked Seb.

Sometimes you randomly stumble across some books that grab you by your metaphorical balls and just sucker punch you in the heart leaving you gasping and desperate for breath.

The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier was one of those books. 'Nough said.

"The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier" by Rosalind Brackenbury is a delightful book. It didn’t change my life, but I enjoyed time spend with the characters and the author’s beautiful prose.

The story is divided in three parts. Every part of the book takes place in a different time. The first part is a story of a love affair between a young talented French writer Henri Fournier and a married woman Pauline. Pauline is an actress and Henri works as her husband’s secretary. She is a very self-absorbed person and my least favourite from the book. But her affection and dedication to Henri seemed genuine. They are separated by the First World War and their love has a tragic final.

The second part takes place many years later when Pauline is nearly a hundred years old and she meets a young scholar, that wants to write a book about Henri Fournier and his love for Pauline. The young man Sebastian has problems with his love life, longing for his ex-girlfriend. Surprisingly, the meeting with the old charming lady and the insight into her love for Henri changes his own perception of love.

The third part of the novel concentrates on a Sebastian’s visit in France, where he meets Henri’s sister’s granddaughter Isa. Seb is going through a horrible time in his life, his wife passed away unexpectedly. His pain is recent and raw, he can hardly function and a trip to France offers a welcome distraction. Isa invited him because she found some old manuscripts in the attic and wanted an expert’s opinion on their value. She heard about Seb, because he wrote a book on Henri Fournier. Seb is enchanted by Isa and her beautiful house in the French countryside.

What I adored the most about this book is the author’s beautiful, effortless writing style. The words and sentences flow delightfully. I liked the delectable atmosphere of the book. Rosalind Brackenbury writes about pain of loss and she makes it beautiful. Her book reminded me a little of a novel “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham. I will definitely check out her other works.

I received "The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier" from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union for an ARC of this book.

I had a very hard time liking this one for some reason. I don’t know exactly what it was but I struggled to get through it. It was a love story with a lot of sorry involved. Told from different time periods, which I usually love, but I just did not enjoy this one.

The Lost Love Letters of Henry Fournier is a blend of Historical Fiction with Historical facts told in multiple time periods. It is a story of love, sorrows, joys of life and survival. World War I and it’s horrible effects on those who where alive during that time and the generations that follow. Rosalind Brackenbury weaves a tale that flows through 1912-1914, 1975, 2013 as the characters stories are told. My thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for making this book available to read and review.

The Lost Love Letters Of Henri Fournier was a story of secrets of time. When Sebastian Fowler reads the novel he has so many questions because Henri Fournier had written on the first page of the manuscript do not publish maybe because he thought it would be an embarrassment to his family or would hurt Pauline because he uses a different name for her. Reading the story brings about some answers to the questions but also brings about more questions. There is not really a happy ending like most romance stories but maybe there is not supposed to be.

I do not think The Lost Love Letters of Henri Fournier was a read for me. I had a hard time getting in it. I give two stars.

This was not just a very good novel. It had drama, romance, war, death and great joy and love as well. The elements were so well drawn into together and set in two different time frames that added to the drama of the telling of the story.

We have 1913 France - brilliant and carefree. At least these characters were. Claude and Pauline. Married tolerating each other. Each fully aware of the other's frailities. Then we have Henri young the Secretary to Claude whose attraction for Pauline grows by the day. Acknowledged by Pauline but not acted upon till halfway through the story. So we had a descriptive background of Paris and rural France as well. The lives of the well to do, the literate, the peasants. There was all.

Then the outbreak of war. Henri had to enlist and then so did Claude. Like all Frenchmen who were optimistic at the time - it was not meant to be. The war dragged on and womenfolk left behind had to fend for themselves. Pauline did not do too well. She was so frightened that this last chance of happiness was going to be snatched away from her. Henri himself a writer, had written a best seller and his future was very bright. Pauline felt that she was on the edge of a precipice and all that she had lived for was going. And it did. Henri lost his life very early on in the war. Pauline was rejected by Henri's family. She was just his mistress. The isolation of it almost killed her. She picked up the pieces slowly .

It is in the retelling of the bare bones of the story in 2013 that it comes alive. It is as if Henri and Pauline, and all the other characters are very much alive and present. It did not appear that Pauline was in her 90s, that practically everyone was dead and gone. The story is a common one for the era - so many wasted lives and futures but the author did a brilliant job of giving so much life to this very ordinary love story that lifted it from being just another love story.

Love, separation, death, isolation, loneliness all handled very well. Not soppy, not over emotional but very poignant.

This book spans three different time periods and centers around a collection of love letters. It seemed a bit wordy at times, but overall I enjoyed this book. I would read it again.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I really tried to like this book, the title sounded interesting. It was too wordy, too confusing, I had a hard time following what was going on. There were some parts that were good but not enough for me to really like this book

An interesting historical fiction with emphasis on written love letters. I really enjoyed the section based during WWI, the modern sections, not as much. 4 stars for this one.

Fans of novels that explore relationships over time through letters etc. might enjoy this more than I did. This is set in three periods-1912, 1975, and 2013. Seb, on whom the story turns in some ways, starts things off in 1975 when he reaches out to Pauline, who then journeys in her mind back to 1912 when she meets Henri. Then in 2013, Isabelle, granddaughter of Henri's sister, pops up and the story starts again. Not my favorite of the genre. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Spanning the from World War 1 this novel gradually reveals the love affair of a French actress with a young Englishman who has to leave for war. It was difficult to feel empathy for any of the character.
The plot moves slowly and is very over-written.