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!

A solid 3.5⭐!!!

A wonderfully written novel that shows the repercussions of war, reflecting on the best and worst of human nature. Natalie Jenner's writing is very visual, and you feel like you're with Vivien as she explores Italy's beautiful landscapes and landmarks.

I didn't read THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY or BLOOMSBURY GIRLS beforehand, and I liked that I was able to understand the stories of characters that were introduced in previous books. I as able to jump right in and enjoy this novel's story.

It's a little slow in the beginning and middle, but the ending is worth it!!!!

This was a great book. Set in 1955, with look backs on things that happened during WW2. I really enjoyed the writing and have to go back and read the first two books in this series.
I was fascinated with Vivien’s journey in Italy. I was appalled by some of the things the Catholic Church did, and how they treated and also coerced people to do their will.
In all I really loved this book. It is a great read for anybody who liked historical fiction.

Jenner latest book is another great historical fiction. Set in post WWII Rome, in a heyday of film making, it weaves old Hollywood into a completely different setting. It was neat to see the nods and connections to Jenner's other works and I found it told a really unique story. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I did find the last chapter a rather unnecessary connection to make. Fans of Jenner's work will certainly enjoy this latest one.

I'm so glad that I was able to read a copy of this book before the publishing date. I have read and enjoyed the two previous books in this series. I really loved the setting of 1955 Rome, and the movie industry set there. It was so glamorous, the flashbacks to life during the war in Rome, and Italy really helped to show just how much suffering the Italian people lived through and why the booming movie industry was really a salvation for so many people. I also really enjoyed how the characters from previous books got mentions and small appearances in this book, really tying together the world that Natalie Jenner has created.
I found that I couldn't stop thinking about this book when I had to stop and attend to my regular life, which is always the sign of a good book.

The last book I read by Natalie Jenner was The Jane Austen Society. I had enjoyed the writing so much that picking up the next book was a foregone conclusion. It has lived up to its expectations for me. This book too was an engrossing read filled with beautifully fleshed out characters and setting.
The book is set a few years after World War II in Europe particularly Italy. Vivian has arrived in Italy after the war. We met her in The Jane Austen Society as one of the characters in a bookstore in London and then in The Bloomsbury girls. Now she has moved on to working on movie scripts as a script doctor since the reviewers killed her play in London and ended her career. She has arrived in Italy on a project portraying the resistance during the World War. Meeting Vivian again is like seeing an old friend and looking forward to getting to know them more. That said, even if you have not read the first two books, it takes away nothing from the story and works well as a standalone.
Vivian and other characters, around her on the sets of the movie, are struggling to find a new life. The book is not set too many years after the war, so, as in Vivian’s case of looking for her fiancé, there are others searching for answers. Decisions made during those years due to the circumstances had consequences leaving many who are trying to come to terms with the new times. Like the director of the movie wishing to tell his fiancé’s story in the resistance or a young girl, trying to find some clue about her mother. The Catholic church has a huge role to play in every aspect of life in Italy and it makes its presence felt even in the film stories being told of the war.
All these lives and Vivian’s encounter with love again made an interesting read. The setting felt real and I could practically picture the lanes of Italy and the time it was set in. A lot of emotional scenes were beautifully portrayed and people’s desire to lay to rest the past while trying to move forward is brought home poignantly.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the book to read.

It was decent but wasn't a book that I will want to reread or get really excited over. At times, it felt slow and cumbersome and too much education was provided. I struggled a bit. Overall I'd recommend if you like historical fiction and learning alot. Thanks to the publisher for providing this arc.

Every Time We Say Goodbye is an ambitious novel with multiple subplots that takes place mostly in the 50s in Rome, Italy.
The novel's prologue opens in 1943 with a beautiful and brave young woman member of the Italian resistance who fights secretly to rid Rome of the Nazis.
Later on, the first Chapter is about Vivian from the Bloomsbury Girls (Jane Austen Society Trilogy book 2), who will rewrite a screenplay in Italy where she will find out many secrets about the Italian film industry.

The novel emphasizes the influence of the Vatican in the Italian cinema, but as well it is also about the unknown whereabouts of the people who dissappear during WWII and the pain and trauma that people faced during the poswar.

The novel is slightly connected to the two previous ones, so it could work as a stand-alone.

The author managed to give full closure to each of the storylines and characters, but because of all the things going on in the novel, I couldn't connect fully with the main character.

I started reading the first half of the book, but I was struggling a bit, and I wasn't hooked enough. Later, I received the audiobook, and it worked better for me.
The audiobook is narrated by Juliet Aubrey actress and narrator, and her voice is sweet and harmonic.

This wasn't my favorite novel by the author, but I think it is resourceful, and historical fiction fans could enjoy it.
I think there were historical aspects that haven't been portrayed in other novels, so I found it original.

Thank you, Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the advanced ebook and audiobook.
Pub date: May 14th, 2024.