The Jane Austen Society is back with this 3rd book in the series. Our favorite characters make appearances but the main focus is on Vivien Lowry. She’s in Rome in 1955. As a playwright, she has authored a fabulous play but it is soon shut down by the Catholic Church. As the past rises up , Vivian tries to navigate what happened to her fiancé in WWII and learn how the past has dictated the future. Secrets, famous actors and directors are all part of her story.

I wanted to like this story. But it unfortunately felt like it was all over the place. Too many characters, too many story lines and it didn't seem to flow. Some aspects of the story lines were interesting, I just wish everything had connected better and made more sense. This was my first book by Natalie Jenner.

This is my third novel by Natalie Jenner and I floundered so HARD with this one. I honestly couldn't even finish it. Maybe it's just one that I'll need to come back to at another time. I'm honestly not sure.
It just felt quite different than the first two in this series. Love this author, however.

Absolutely adored this novel! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, but can be hard to get right. The detail and description in this book blows it out of the water.

I was a big fan of Bloomsbury Girls and was happy to learn of this sequel. My own affinity for London in general and Bloomsbury in particular over Rome in general and the Vatican in particular no doubt influences my partiality to Bloomsbury Girls, but it was a pleasure to meet Vivien Lowry and many of the other characters again. The vivid descriptions again immerse the reader in the time and place, and the recurring cameos by Peggy Guggenheim, Daphne Du Maurier, and more are a treat. There is, admittedly, a lot going on in this book, with layered and interconnected plots, and you do have to pay attention to keep it straight. But even when vigilant, the way some things would be wrapped up was not evident (the Cartier watch!). One regret: I wish we had seen more of Vivien as playwright. Much is made about the fact that she is one—her poorly received production sets the entire book in motion—but she readily abandons it to flee to Rome and is quickly absorbed into other pursuits. Maybe in the next installment . . .

Well, this book seals the deal: I need to become a Natalie Jenner completist. I'd previously read (and loved) The Bloomsbury Girls (my podcast review: (https://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2023-03-20-bookshops/). Grace, Evie, and Vivien stole my heart, and I was delighted to spend more time with Vivien — and to learn more about her past. In The Bloomsbury Girls, Jenner gave us an insider's look at the workings of a London bookshop. She brings the same attention to detail to Rome, Italy, and the movie biz. She's a pro at weaving relevant details into the plot so it never feels like research plopped on the page. Instead, we're right there with the characters, experiencing their everyday lives — and their heartbreaks and triumphs. If you like a heroine with fire and intelligence with a side of heartbreak, Vivien is the girl for you, and you will love this exploration of her new adventures.

This is a powerful story about love and loss, finding purpose, and learning to live again. Some of the members of the Jane Austen Society appear in this story, as do the Bloomsbury Book "girls." 1943 Italy plays a major part in the story's past and 1954 Italy in the present. The Vatican, the Italian film industry, Hollywood, the Red scare in the U.S., and lots of wartime secrets make for a fascinating story.

What a beautiful story. I felt completely immersed from the first pages as Vivien begins to explore Rome and I loved learning with her, my « familiarity » and comfort with the setting increasing with hers.

I’ve read the other books in this series but it’s been a while and I think this book can be read as a stand alone.

I absolutely loved this mature story of love and loss in the post war period. It’s such a beautiful time of renewal and rebirth yet shrouded in the darkness of harder days past. Jenner brings a beautiful balance to her story and it’s many characters who grace its pages. This is so incredibly well done - bravo.

I loved the movie script angle and enjoyed the balance between the studio focused chapters and the other adventures and trials encountered by Vivien and her colleagues and friends.

i tried to like this book, I really did. The premise sounded intriguing, and I was expecting to enjoy it. However, I just didn't. I had to practically force myself to go back to it each time, thinking that if I kept going, something would happen soon to pique my interest. It didn't. It never seemed to be going anywhere. I haven't read anything else in this apparent series, don't know if that would have made a difference or not.

Everytime we Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner is a book that can be read as a standalone although it is the 3rd book in a series by this author. I didn't realize that when I started it, but it was still an enjoyable read. I liked the production, acting side of this book. I also like how this book incorporated real life people with fictional characters (Patty Guggenheim is mentioned!) The cover is beautiful and that is what drew me in, but the story was enjoyable with what things look liked for people in the film world after the war in Europe. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

This book dramatically portrays Italy from 1943-1946. From the beautiful but repressed countryside, the resistance fighters and those who bravely hid soldiers. Of the famous actresses who will be familiar to those of us of a certain age that came to be filmed. And patrons of the arts who raised money for orphans by throwing glamorous parties that the wealthy and those who wanted to be seen attended. But it was the institution of power and authority of the Catholic Church that held the political, economic and cultural life of Italy in their hands.
This is the story of disgraced Londoner, Vivian Lowery who has come to Italy to be a script doctor for a film about the life of a female resistance fighter that was murdered. She is also looking for any word on her fiancée that was missing in the war. But it is also the story of so many other characters that carry the wounds of their memories. Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for a wonderful, heartwarming and heart aching story. The comments and review are my honest opinion. 4.5stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc. I had read and loved Jenner’s first two novels and was excited when this was added as a read now on NetGalley.

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book at around 40%. I did like the setting—Italian postwar filmmaking clashing with the reins of the Catholic Church. I love old movies and liked that aspect of it along with the mentions of real life stars like Ava Gardner.

I was just mostly bored reading this and wasn’t sure where the plot was going. Vivien goes to Italy to work on screenplays after her latest play bombs. She takes it as a sign to investigate the disappearance of her fiancé after the war…. She then proceeds to ask after him once and get involved in an affair with an older man. She also struggles with the idea of motherhood and reconciling with her past. I didn’t like Vivien much in “Bloomsbury Girls,” so I think that’s another reason this one didn’t work for me.

I loved Natalie Jenner’s first two books. This one had all of the elements to be another favourite: Set in Italy, on a movie set, a continuing character. But, unfortunately, it did not work as well for me.

To escape the fallout from her disastrous play, Vivian heads to Italy so rwrite a movie script at the urging of her friends. She also has another motivation for going…to find out what happened to her fiance, missing since WWII.

I can’t put my finger on it, but, I found there were a lot of characters and storylines to keep track of that it was hard to get focused. I think this caused the pacing to be off and resulted in a bit of a slog.

While not for me, it is obvious that a lot of research went into the story and there are people who loved it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Although I had high expectations for this novel, having really enjoyed The Jane Austen Society, it fell somewhat flat for me. Set in Italy in the 1950s, it sort of focuses on the film industry after WWII (particularly Americans making films in Italy) and how the Italians are coping with life in general after the war. It was exceedingly slow moving with far, far too many characters, some of whom seem to flit in and out after just a few pages. And, even though some aspects of the storyline were interesting from a historical point of view, much of it read as just the actions of a bunch of famous people thrown together in an attempt to make a story. Because I have liked the author’s previous novels, I do look forward to her next one.

I DNF this book, I just couldn’t get into the story. I found it be slow and boring. I will let other reviewers who enjoy this book promote it, so I will not be posting on social media or reviews on retail sites. That way this book gets much deserved attention from those reviewers who loved it!

Every Time We say Goodbye is the third installment of Natalie Jenner's Jane Austen Society series. Although I have not read the other two books, I found this work easy to read on its own.

This fantastic work of Historical Fiction brings us from London to Rome where Vivien Lowry attempts to continue her career after a ruinous event in the West End. I loved the story of the Italian film industry and the additional timeline of Viven's flashbacks to the time of WWII.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of those books that I was so grateful for it to be over. There were way too many characters, side stories, meandering plots, and I felt absolutely no connection to any character.

The audio was difficult in that the narrator's accent was extremely strong and there were so many characters and side plots that I never quite knew where we were at or who anyone was.

This is book three of a series so I wonder if I was at a disadvantage not having read the prior books.

Overall, this book absolutely was not for me. The writing was well done and if you absolutely love WWII historical fiction and film you will likely enjoy it much more than I did.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the copy.

This is the first book I’ve read by Jenner, and I was not disappointed! Vivien Lowry, the main character, arrives in Rome on the heels of her play’s critical failure in London. She takes a script doctoring job with Cinecitta, and hopes her time in Italy will lay to rest some of her personal ghosts, as she investigates a loss in her past.

This novel was well-written, rich in detail, and a deep dive into the importance of memory. Many of Jenner’s characters are dealing with the emotional fallout from WWII, but the author takes care to remind readers that remembrance and memorializing even the most horrible events of the past are important:

“In telling a story that was true, it would also serve as physical evidence for future generations, whose disbelief in how bad things had been was the one aspect of the future that could always be relied upon.”

As well, Every Time We Say Goodbye is a multilayered examination of censorship in both post-war Italy and the US (as the HUAC spurred many actors and filmmakers to flee the country). I knew little about this time period in Italy, and I loved the secondary plot involving La Scolaretta and the nuns in the Italian resistance.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I made it to a little over 40% on this book which I find rather confusing and not able to get into. I did not read the other two books by this author and maybe that is why I am having this problem. I am not really liking some of the characters so, regretfully, this will be a DNF for me.

This was my second Natalie Jenner book (weirdly enough I started the trilogy with Bloomsbury Girls and still haven't gotten to Jane Austen Society, but I plan to!) Now the problem is that Bloomsbury Girls set a really high bar for me - could even be because I expected nothing and wouldn't have even read it had it not been recommended by my local library. So, unfortunately, the trilogy wrap fell a bit short of my expectations. It's still a good book and the author has a great knack for storytelling / character building, but it somehow felt as though she was trying to do too much. Part of the joy of reading Bloomsbury Girls was its quaint, contained world. Despite being set in the late 1940s, the characters' lives, frustrations and joys were relatable, and I couldn't wait to turn each page to find out what happens in the unassuming bookshop. However, in Every Time... the scale is imposing (not just because it's set in Rome) but touches heavily upon the impact of the Second World War, influence of religion in post-war Italy and beyond, antisemitism, refugee and orphan lives, state of cinema and a lot more... you see?

There also seemed to be a lot more characters than felt necessary and unlike in BG, I wasn't invested in most of their arcs. Vivien too (the main protagonist), seemed to have been a lot smarter and fiery in the previous book. Some things happening to her, and a few of the other characters, felt unbelievable or too much of a stretch. Like how does a still unsuccessful playwright end up in Rome and then meet and have such a prominent/ cool life in a completely foreign company, instantly developing an envious network? Further, and this may be more of an editing issue than a writing one, but it felt like I had to re-read several sentences and dialogues to make sense of them and sometimes I still couldn't. I haven't had to do that with some of the densest non-fiction books I've read either. The thread of relevance, context and narrative felt tenuous, as a result.

The book is enjoyable and easy to read so it still gets a 3- 3.5 from me but despite all the elements that would typically make a book like this one of my all-time favorites and score it a 4 or above, something just didn't click enough for me this time. Still looking forward to reading the first Jane Austen though and any future books by Natalie Jenner!