Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. The story had its moments, highs and lows that left me dissecting odd character conversations. I wanted to love this book and at times I did, but it took too long to set everything in motion. Ever feel like an author is beating a synopsis into your head?

Too much icky romance. Unrealistic scenarios. For example: I highly doubt anyone would instantly befriend a foreign stranger, insult their drab appearance, and take on the task of an instant makeover. Not even in the 60's. Not gonna happen. I know this is fiction...just asking me to believe way outta the realm of reality. Lastly, I did not care for the way the three women's stories played in to the other. Again, it's unrealistic. That said, I did enjoy all of the espionage factors. The talismans was an inventive idea, a powerful connection. As a whole, I found all of it to be a bit convoluted. Singularly, each woman in the story had an interesting storyline. It had its moments. Then it didn't. Then it did. Kind of like those mean-then-sweet Sour Patch kiddos. Overall, 3.5 old fashion stars that rounds up to a 4 on technicalities.


ARC courtesy of NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and William Morrow. Many thanks.

I love the historical fiction style of this book. We meet three women - Aurelie, Daisy, and Babs - in three time periods - 1914, 1942, and 1964 - and get a brief glimpse of their lives, while finding out how they intersect across generations.

I liked all three main women pretty equally. They were all believable to me and had their personal strengths and weaknesses. Their love interests were also likable and interesting characters. Finding out how some of them ended up tied to others was a fun twist that I didn't see coming in all cases. Some of their connections were a bit of a surprise to me, but still believable and contributed to their happy endings.

This book did make me want to give away most of my belongings and move into a suite at the Ritz in Paris. Everyone else was doing it, so why not? Okay, so it's just one main character who lives there, but she was important in two other characters' lives, so we did get a lot of visualization of living there. And it sounded pretty comfy.

While I'm definitely a homebody, I did love reading about life in Paris. Overall I'd give this book 4 out of 5 stars, and I'm looking forward to enjoying more historical fiction books from this author team.

Three formidable women. Three different time periods. One hotel that connects their stories together. This is the premise of All the Ways We Said Goodbye, which is the latest work of historical fiction from the famous ‘Team W’ – authors Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. I’m familiar with each of these 3 author’s works individually, however this is my first time reading one of their collaborative efforts (though I have their previous two collaborations on my bookshelf waiting for me), and seeing how much I enjoyed this one, I am definitely grateful for the opportunity.

The story opens first in the year 1964, with recently widowed Barbara “Babs” Langford at a crossroads trying to figure out her life after the death of her beloved husband Kit. When Babs receives a letter from an American lawyer named Drew Boudoin seeking her help with locating a Resistance fighter whom her husband possibly knew while working in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, she agrees to join him in a search that finds them traveling to Paris and the famous Ritz hotel. We are then taken back to the year 1914, at the onset of the Great War, where Aurelie, the daughter of the Comte de Courcelles, decides to leave her mother, who has been residing at the Ritz hotel in Paris, to accompany her father at their ancestral estate in Picardy, France. Not long after she arrives, the estate is taken over by German troops who requisition the home as well as its surrounding area for their headquarters. During this time, Aurelie discovers that she actually knows one of the German officers – Max von Sternburg – from her debutante days in Paris and despite being on opposite sides, they strike up a friendship that later develops into something more. The timeline then switches to 1942, where Marguerite “Daisy” Villon lives with her Nazi collaborator husband Pierre and their 2 children in Paris, a few blocks from the Hotel Ritz where she grew up and where the grandmother who raised her still lives. After some persuasion, Daisy agrees to assist in her grandmother’s Resistance efforts by helping to deliver identity papers created by a skilled forger named Legrand, to Jewish refugees. Eventually, Daisy gets pulled deeper into the Resistance network, where working closer and closer with Legrand with change her life in ways she never expected.

The first thing that struck me about this novel was the seamlessness of the writing in that, to me at least, there was really no way to tell that 3 different authors were involved with writing this -- this is significant given that, in their individual works, each author has her own distinct style of writing, yet here, those different styles were pretty much indistinguishable. Given the way the story was structured – with three alternating timelines anchored by three women with distinctly different personalities – I was impressed by how cohesively the narratives flowed together. In addition to some clever transitions thrown in that linked the end of each chapter to the beginning of the next one (which I actually didn’t catch on to until about a third of the way through the novel), the various plot points were also well-crafted in terms of joining the timelines together in a way that still left room for each character’s individual stories to be told. Speaking of the characters – one of the things I liked most about this book was the character development aspect, especially with regard to the 3 female protagonists, all of whom I found myself rooting for. Even the male characters were written well, which isn’t always easy to do when the female characters in the story are strong and at the forefront of driving each of the narratives forward – I felt that the authors were able to strike a good balance in this aspect in terms of giving us strong, well-developed characters on both sides.

With all that said however, I did struggle a little bit with the rating on this one, as there were a few things about this book that I had a problem with, which is why, in the end, I chose to rate this 4 stars instead of 5. One of the biggest issues was the emotional depth of the story, which I found surprisingly lacking given the setting against the backdrop of 2 World Wars -- I was expecting to be more moved by the story and even shed a tear or two, but that didn’t happen. Perhaps the reason for this is, while there were plenty of historical elements, all of which were incorporated well into each of the narratives, the focus of the story overall seemed to lean more heavily toward the romance aspect and the relationships between the characters. Of course, nothing wrong with this per se, but since I’m more of a historical fiction fan and less keen on romance, it makes sense that this would impact my reading experience a bit. Another thing was that the plot elements were largely predictable in that, from the first chapter, I kind of already knew the direction that the story would be headed (and it turns out I was spot-on in terms of how all 3 narratives tied together), so there ended being no surprises or “gut-punch” moments for me.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this one, as it had many of the things I expect in a good book: a compelling, well-written story that kept me turning the pages; well-developed, complex characters that I felt invested in (to different extents); a relatively fast-paced plot that flowed well; and of course, a well-incorporated historical setting. I think fans of the 3 authors will love this one and while it wasn’t necessarily a “favorite” in my book, I liked it well enough to want to go back through all 3 authors’ backlists as well as read the previous two ‘Team W’ works that they did – hopefully some time in the near future, I will have time to do so!

Received ARC from William Morrow (HarperCollins) via NetGalley.

What a powerhouse trio of authors! I knew as soon as I saw this book I had to read it. While I really enjoyed it, it did take me a long time to get into the story. I knew that the 3 story lines would connect eventually, but in the beginning it felt so disjointed. I really enjoyed how they tied together in the end. Each of the 3 stories could have been their own novel that I would gladly read.

I've been following this "series" since the beginning, and this is the best one yet! These women come together to write insanely good books! I look forward to reading their new story every year and this one was just beautiful. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves historical fiction and family lineage stories.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review !

I was not sure what to expect from this book. I was intrigued that different authors penned different stories. It still flowed flawlessly.

From three wonderfully talented authors comes a story of three women who live in different times but somehow their stories intertwine. From 1914 we meet Aurelie, who is stuck living with the enemy in her own house while WWI was happening all around her. In 1942 we meet Daisy, who does what she must to keep her family safe during WWII. 1964 introduces us to Babs, who travels to Paris to find answers to her husband’s secrets. All three stories have their own paths, all three women are incredibly strong, and all three stories tie together in amazing ways.

I am in awe of how strong Aurelie, Daisy, and Babs are. They are living in times that are not easy, searching for ways to keep their families safe, yet continue to put themselves out there to help others while trying to get a grip on all that life is throwing at them. I kept reading looking for the clues as to how it would all come together and putting the pieces together bit by bit, I did have it mostly figured out before the end.

Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White are all authors that I have read before. Writing as one, there are no gaps in the story and the book flows perfectly from one character to the next. The chapters alternate between the three main characters and are not short, but they are easy to follow. The storyline pulls you into three wonderful eras and the world as it was happening at that time. I could picture the characters and hear their voices, I could see the places they were visiting and living, and I could feel their emotions as their worlds were changed by the lives they were living.

I have read all their books and they have done it again!! This book surpassed every amazing expectation I had for it!! I didn't want it to end. I think the most amazing part was how they streamlined these three timelines to make so much sense and also because they were so interwoven it was just natural -- not contrived or unbelievable like so many other books like this!!

It’s amazing how three authors could connect and make such a cohesive family saga that spans World War I, World War II and ends 1964. It’s the story of two French women whose courage made them an important part of the French Resistance, and an Englishwoman who comes to Paris in 1964 to find out about this woman her husband while he was in France during WWII. Lots of romance, courage and interesting characters who all have a deep connection with the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Three generations of women all affected by war tell their story of love, loss, and overcoming in this well researched, hard to put down novel.

Three Women. Three Decades. Two Wars.

In All the Ways We Said Goodbye, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, & Karen White take readers across two continents and through two World Wars to uncover spies and secrets. Each of the three heroines, Aurelie, Daisy, and Babs, fight to bring freedom of heart and country in this tale that spans fifty years. The drumbeat of war reaches to stately mansions and across war-ravaged fields, calling each of the unique heroines to right the wrong in their corners of the world. Despite their seemingly unconnected lives, the same glittering Ritz holds the answers to what they search for: Courage, love, and a final goodbye. So reader: welcome to Paris — welcome to the Ritz — welcome to All the Ways We Said Goodbye.

If there was one word to describe this novel, it would be “secrets.” Aurelie, Daisy, and Babs have many secrets that they hide from even those closest to them, and it’s the job of the reader to sniff them out. I cannot give a detailed description of the plot because of the twists and revelations that happen to start in the very first pages. What I can do without spoilers is to give a brief introduction to each of the heroines:

Aurelie – 1914. Aurelie lives in Paris and is the daughter of a French aristocrat and an American heiress. Her ancestors fought with Joan of Arc, and this hero inspires Aurelie to go off on her own daring quest to save lives as a second “Maid of Orleans.” Rebelling against the German soldiers comes naturally, as they’re the invaders of her country and home. But when she meets an old flame now dressed in the garb of a German officer, the clear lines between “Who is my enemy?” and “Who is my friend?” vanish.
Daisy – 1942. Another resident of Paris, Daisy struggles against life under Nazi occupation. Her grandmother, a wealthy American expatriate, encourages Daisy to join her spy ring. For Daisy, the cost is great–if caught, her two young children and beloved grandmother are put in terrible danger. With the aid of a mysterious English spy and his worn copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Daisy embarks on a path she never would have planned in order to protect her family and people.
Babs – 1964. Babs was always content in her role as wife, mother, and leader in her area of Devonshire, England. When her childhood sweetheart-turned-husband dies after World War II, she sinks under the loneliness of an empty home and heart. But when Babs finds out that her husband may have lied about everything — even his love for her — she starts out on a transformative journey to Paris that takes her through old letters and long-buried stories at the Hotel Ritz.

Each of the three very different stories in All the Ways We Said Goodbye was woven together masterfully. When I received this novel I saw that it was written by three authors, but their styles were blended so seamlessly that I forgot it wasn’t written by a single author…and continued believing so through my review’s entire first draft! Every detail that’s seemingly small — from a passing reference to a person’s last name to something even more minor, like the smell of a pipe — can be the key to finding out how each woman’s story connects to the others. So stay sharp! I’ve read books before that switch narrators and dates, but never have I read a novel quite like this. Everything was charged with the potential to impact another heroine’s storyline, which amplified “the feels” I had for the characters. It’s one thing to be moved when the heroine makes a difficult choice — it’s another thing entirely to realize that this new decision was the reason a future character acted a certain way earlier in the book. I wasn’t before, but now I’m a convert to this kind of time-travel novel, as it’s a reflection of reality: Every cause has an effect, even if it’s not directly an effect on one’s own life. It’s just in a condensed form here, where we’re fortunate enough as readers to actually see this cause and effect.

As for what I didn’t like, the list is short but did impact my experience of All the Ways We Said Goodbye. Because the time span is so broad and there are three heroines to share the novel, there wasn’t much character development or depth. The most depth was perhaps in Aurelie’s story, which ended up being my favorite of the three. I would say the least depth was in Babs’ story; I just never felt connected or interested in this character, despite her intriguing premise. The ending is also rushed, which was a disappointment since the authors created such fascinating premises. For some of the tantalizing secrets, I was still left with questions like “Why make this choice?” or “What happened next?” This was frustrating since it seemed less like a conscious choice to benefit the character, and more like a problem of deadlines or page limits.

Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives. With its plethora of historical secrets and three heroines filled to the brim with heart and courage, I recommend All the Ways We Said Goodbye to start off your 2020 reading season.

Three magnetic authors of historical fiction, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White, unite in this narrative with the central focus of Paris’ Hotel Ritz. In 1914 World War I France, Aurelie is living with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles, at his estate when she becomes reacquainted with German soldier Maximilian Von Sternburg, and their relationship takes an unexpected turn.
Fast forward to World War II Paris where Daisy, Aurelie’s daughter, lives with her grandmother at the Hotel Ritz. When Daisy learns from her grandmother that she is Jewish, Daisy decides to help her grandmother with her resistance efforts, and Daisy also meets Max Von Sternburg at the Hotel Ritz before he attends a dinner party at her house hosted by her Vichy husband Pierre.
After the death of her husband Kit, Barbara Langford agrees to go to Paris to meet attorney Andrew Bowdoin. Andrew’s father served in the OSS during World War II, and his reputation was damaged when French Resistance fighter La Fleur scheduled a drop of valuable jewels that never materialized. When the jewels adorned the wives of Nazi officers months later, Resistance fighters branded Andrew’s father a traitor for profiting from the sale of the jewels, a sale he vehemently denied. As Andrew believes that Kit may have had information about La Fleur, he meets Barbara at the Hotel Ritz in Paris as they search for clues to La Fleur’s real identity.
The three parallel narratives unwind with expert plotting, quickly immersing the reader in the stories of three different women, bound by their ties to the iconic Hotel Ritz. Fans of historical fiction will want to race through this novel, rich with historical detail and a plethora of hidden secrets.

I love how well these three women write together and weave together the stories of three women in three historical time periods, giving each a unique voice. While this is billed as a "novel of the Ritz," I didn't think the hotel was all that important in the story as a setting—which wasn't a bad thing at all, as the focus was more on the characters. As usual for this kind of novel, each of the women also had a romance going, but again, I didn't feel like this was the primary focus. Part of the appeal of this novel was trying to untangle how the women were related to each other and the characters around them.

Two of the time periods are oft-used in historical fiction, yet they felt fresh in this novel. During WWI, Aurelie is close to the front lines of the fighting and her father's castle is taken over as a garrison for the Germans. How they struggle to feed the villagers and handle the occupying force was probably the most moving of the three sections. (When I think of WWI novels, I picture a nurse on the home front in England, so this was a fascinating perspective.) During WWII, Daisy is involved in the underground in Paris working on documents for fleeing Jews and Resistance members. While this isn't the most original WWII plot, it was made so by the amount of detail about the logistics of counterfeiting and Daisy's unique position as the wife of a French collaborator with the Nazis. (Having just read City of Women about a similar woman in Berlin, it was especially nice to read a woman written by a woman rather than a man who didn't get the voice quite right.) So already this wasn't you average World War novel, but the addition of the 1964 Babs story really rounded it out and made it something special. Firstly, it was brilliant to include a postwar perspective of a woman who "aged" before her time when her youth was spent with a husband damaged by his war experience. Secondly, how original to have a woman confront the fact that her husband loved someone else and that maybe she could have her own identity outside of sister and wife, which seem to have defined her before her husband's death.

As usual, I feel I fail to do justice to the most wonderful books I read. This is a beautifully written novel, the stories written by three authors seamlessly woven together. The women, while experiencing things that no one reading will ever experience, feel like real people we could meet in life. The multilayered story covers issues both intimate and international in scope with equal success. I think this might have been my favorite of their three collaborations, and I can't wait for more!

This can be a difficult book to follow. The story is told in France through three different time periods, WWI, WWII, and 1964. Some of the characters appear in all three time periods, while others are new to each one. It was fascinating how historical events were threaded through and supported what was a story of intrigue, resistance, and love through time. Recommended for fans of the authors.

I would classify this book as historical fiction with a definite subsect of romance within it. It is also a family lineage type of story that it super unfolds. I really enjoyed seeing all the different timelines and seeing how the characters related to each other and were so similar as well as the ways in which they were different, I think my favorite story line of the three was probably Daisy. The fact that she was helping the resistance despite the fact that her husband worked for the Nazi party. I will say that as much as I wanted to see more historical fiction throughout the story It focused much more on the relationships of the women, which is ok, it just wasn't what I have come to expect out of Beatriz Williams writing. There is usually such a balance. The writing itself was absolutely fantastic and I would definitely read more books by this trio of authors! I really enjoyed my time reading this.

As is usual for collaborations by these three authors, I found this book to be enjoyable to read, but it's not particularly deep. I enjoyed the characters, and I especially like the connections to other books by these authors (but this book stands on its own), but I think that alternating between three characters/timelines thins the story out too much and makes it difficult to keep characters straight.

In ALL THE WAYS WE SAID GOODBYE, the accomplished team of Williams, Willig, and White have once again offered a compelling, entrancing, complex story about courageous women making difficult choices and risking their lives for what they believe and who and what they love. Three different time periods (1910s, 1940s, and 1960s) provide myriad perspectives on conflict, war, and the aftermath-- and the way the stories of people linked through familial and love relationships is superb, delightful, so rich and convincing I felt transported to the different time periods, in the company of fascinating characters. Nothing is as it seems--the human heart is twisty and complicated and this wonderful story lays it all out in the kind of read that keeps you up too late, too deeply involved to want to stop reading!

All the Ways We Said Goodbye tracks three women in different times: 1914, 1942, and 1964. As the novel unfolds, we begin to understand the connections these women have, not least of which is the role each of them played in historical events over the course of both World Wars. While I caught on to the connections earlier than the women, that didn't detract from the effectiveness of the narrative told here. The parallels drawn among the three stories are compelling and ultimately satisfying, particularly since their stories are full of despair and loss. I highly recommend for anyone who likes reading about strong and influential women. The fact that their stories are intertwined with actual history makes it just that much better.

Wow this book is excellent! It weaves together three different stories from three different times. It was really hard to put it down. I did have to take notes to keep the characters straight but that’s mostly because it’s harder to flip back in an ebook. I really love historical fiction especially about WWII and this book was so good.

All the Ways We Said Goodbye is a three-way split-time novel written by three different authors Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. This particular book ties the stories of three women who lived during World War I, World War II, and the 1960s. The three women are connected to each other through a variety of ways but I can't tell you more as that would ruin the story. The authors do a marvelous job of connecting the three stories so that the overall story continuously unfolds providing more information about the connections between the characters and so that it is one over-arching story. The book also provides a wonderful glimpse at the horrors of war for those who lived through it and for those who help others pick up the pieces afterwards.

I received an ARC via NetGalley and was not required to provide a positive review.