“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all”

I’ve long been a fan of Emily Dickinson’s poems. There’s something about her work that causes me to reflect on life. So I found it especially meaningful that the authors chose to use this particular verse as one of the threads which connects all three parts of The Liberty Scarf narrative. Hope‘s indelible influence on the stories being told here felt quite, well, poetic to me, and the poignant mood it left in its wake fit perfectly with the key lives that intersected across the novel. Iris and Rex. Genevieve and Maxime. Clara and Roman. If not for the Liberty scarf inspired by Dickinson’s poem, none of these couples would have met and certainly the six of them would have no connection to each other.

But thankfully the beauty of this novel is in its homage to the seemingly isolated moments – the turns and twists and choices – that we eventually realize were telling a much larger story of hope all along. A silly bet. A bold dream. A new assignment. A shopping trip. An illness. A kiss. I loved the banter between Iris and Rex, the easy connection between Genevieve and Maxime, the swoony chemistry between Clara and Roman. All three authors are so talented, and they easily had me invested in each of these characters as well as the history being lived out on the pages. Seeing different elements of World War I through the various characters helped the novel come that much more alive, and I especially enjoyed seeing how the arts were utilized as well. From fashion and design to music, art, architecture, and of course poetry, hope sings a beautiful tune through these creative elements, one that shines light into the darkness of war and lifts the heart. Not only for The Liberty Scarf’s characters, but for its readers as well.

Bottom Line: Three women connected unaware by a beautiful silk scarf from the famed Liberty of London, its design inspired by and perpetuating hope. One woman created the scarf. One woman received it as a gift. One woman owes it everything. Despite their differences in station, mission, and personality (from each other and from me), each character felt relatable and captured my heart as well as my attention. The Liberty Scarf is a novel told in three parts, yes, but its three authors – Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan – seamlessly turn it into a unified story that will have readers solidly invested from beginning to end. (Fair warning… the first two parts pause abruptly but keep reading and it will all come back around, I promise.) I loved the premise of this layered novel, the history I learned (or was reminded of), the vivid scene-setting, the epistolary elements, and of course the power of hope. Perfect for reading when you want to immerse yourself in a story while snuggled up in a warm blanket on a cold day.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

During WWI, three women and their stories are woven together in this ambitious novel: Iris Braxton wants to become a scarf designer for the famous Liberty's store of London; Genevieve Tremblay works in France in the US Army Signal Corps; and Clara Janssens is a nurse on the front lines. Each woman's story relates to the Liberty scarf in their own way, and this collaboration of authors is unique and engrossing.

Three talented authors seamlessly weave together an uplifting and beautiful story in The Liberty Scarf, a new historical romance novel by J’nell Ciesielski, Rachel McMillan, and Aimie K. Runyan. It’s a vivid, emotional tale that follows three incredible women connected by a scarf during the tragic events of World War I as they each discover themselves and romance along the way.

Expertly woven and researched, The Liberty Scarf blends romance and characterization – ultimately leading to a satisfying conclusion with a message about hope, sacrifice, and never giving up.

While I enjoyed each of the three young women’s stories and discovering how they each connected to the scarf, I admit I felt myself particularly drawn to Geneviève Tremblay’s story about identity and dealing with prejudice—mostly for personal reasons. I’m from Maine, and my grandfather was French-Canadian. He grew up in Maine, and like Geneviève, his first language was French. Needless to say, I wanted Geneviève to move on and away from her prejudiced boyfriend and his family.

Iris and Clara’s stories were equally compelling. Iris reached for her artistic dreams, and Clara connected with others through creativity.
Each love story is also compelling, and the men (Roman, Maxime, and Rex) swoony. I quickly rooted for each couple to overcome the odds and have a happy ending.

All in all, the historical fiction book reminds us to appreciate the beauty around us even in the harshest of times and that love and happiness are always possible. The Liberty Scarf is a true treat to read.

Adaptation Recommendation:
The Liberty Scarf would make an excellent three—to four-part period drama miniseries. Each episode could focus on a different character, and then the women could be brought together, tying everything together by the end. Producers like Bad Wolf or Masterpiece would be a good fit.
It would also work as a standalone film weaving three stories together – much like The Hours.

Content Note: PG-like with war themes, an assault, and closed-door romances.

Overall Rating: 4.5 (rounded up to 5 for Goodreads)
Romance Rating: 5

Disclosure: I was given an advanced reader’s copy from the authors, publisher, and Austenprose via NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion.

I received the audiobook from NetGalley and excited to start listening to the Liberty Scarf. The description made it sound so interesting and something I’d gravitate towards. I really really wanted to like it more than I did. But… it was very slow going. I was expecting the stories to be intertwined and more depth throughout. Each story abruptly ended before starting on a completely different story. Typically these kind of books draw on my emotions but this was very surface level. I did like that it was WWI as it’s not as represented as WWII. The 3 women were each strong and inserted themselves to make a difference during an oppressive time. The scarf connects them.

The Liberty Scarf is an incredible tale, using a scarf to weave together the lives of three women during WWI. This story was told in three parts, each one telling the tale of a different woman's life during the war, and each part was as captivating as the last.

First, we meet Iris, who dreams of one day being pattern designer for Liberty's of London. Iris wants to add colour to other women's lives through beautifully patterned scarves during the bleakest of times. Never did she expect to meet and fall for a handsome soldier.

Then we meet Genevieve, a telephone operator from Maine who has signed up to join the Signal Corps to serve overseas as an operator. Genevieve, who always felt like a bit of an outsider in Maine, with her Quebecois background, finds her value oversees and also meets a dashing pilot.

Finally, we meet small-town girl Clara, who leaves home to train to be a nurse and ends up at a hospital tending to wounded soldiers. Clara was someone who didn't have many friends, and definitely no suitors because of her sheltered upbringing. She finds a purpose for herself, makes a friend, and meets a nice-looking army musician who is recovering from pneumonia.

All three women meet and fall for men who have a duty to the war effort that drives the couples apart. Each part ended, and I felt like it wasn't enough. I wanted to read more about what happened to each woman, each couple, after the war. Thank goodness for epilogues.

Written by three authours, this story moved seamlessly between the different parts and was so beautifully written. This story evoked so many emotions and had such a heartwarming ending. It was one of those stories you wished wouldn't end.

I received an advance copy of this book for free, and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

After joining forces on their 2023 novel, The Castle Keepers, authors Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, Rachel McMillan are back with another collaborative book, The Liberty Scarf. Mainly set during the final year of World War I, we follow three different women working within the war, finding love along the way, and united by a recurring theme of hope via a special scarf. Though I don’t read much war fiction these days, I enjoyed this book quite a lot!

The Liberty Scarf is set up like an anthology of three novellas. First there is Iris, a woman who works at Liberty in London and aspires to design her own scarf. She meets Rex, a wounded soldier, who helps in her career ambitions. Then there is Geneviève, a French Canadian woman living in Maine who joins the US Army Signal Corps to work as a bilingual operator. She comes from a working class background, is more or less engaged to the wealthy Peter, and is finding friendship with a French man, Maxime. And finally there is Clara, a Belgian woman working as a nurse in Brussels but who is drawn to life’s stories. She tends to a violinist named Roman, quickly developing a fleeting romance limited to his time in her hospital. But as war continues to tear through Europe, will these six characters find lasting happiness?

Tropes & Narrative Devices:
• Three novellas as one full-length novel
• Partially epistolary
• Recurring scarf and poem motifs
• Third-person POV (Iris; Rex; Geneviève; Clara; Roman)

What I Liked:

• Loosely interconnected stories. Though the stories feel rather distinct from one another, with possibly no overlapping characters (for a while!), they do having recurring themes that glue them together. Iris, Geneviève, and Clara are connected by a Liberty scarf that holds special value to each. And while all three women are contributing to the war effort in some way, they also each find love with a soldier. Each of their stories ends on a cliffhanger… until the epilogue!

• Letters! All three sections have correspondence as a central portion of the characters’ relationship arcs. When Rex is called back to the frontlines, he and Iris write letters about their respective career wins. Geneviève and Maxime become friends while in France, and grow their friendship via letters, even as Geneviève worries about her relationship with her would-be fiancé, Peter. Clara and Roman fall in love when she tends to him as a nurse, bonding over their shared affinity for the arts. But letters are the only thing keeping them together after being driven apart.

• “Hope is the thing with feathers.” While the scarf is a recurring motif that the characters wear and cherish, the Emily Dickinson quote that inspired it is also an important theme that comes up again and again. As hopeless as war can feel, these characters cling to this poem and this quote as a guiding light amidst a dark time.

Final Thoughts
The Liberty Scarf is a novel of hope, strength, and love no matter how dark the times become. I loved the format of three interrelated stories sharing recurring motifs and a hint of character connection at the end. Even as wars rage on today, this book offers some hope and love despite it all.

Loved how each of the stories stood alone, but had a common thread woven throughout and came together at the end. Wonderful perspective of so many different lives during world war 1, engaging characters and slow burn romances.

Three amazing authors, Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan of “The Liberty Scarf” weave a captivating and intriguing novel. In this well -designed and vividly described novel, the genres are Historical Fiction, World War One Fiction, and Historical Romance Fiction. The authors’ combined talents depict three women protagonists lives that are intertwined through the tapestry of one amazing historical scarf that blends art, music, poetry and literature through history. These three women start as strangers with their own complex and complicated stories surrounding an artistic scarf created by one of the characters, who uses her imagination, color and threads to symbolize freedom, romance and liberty. This is such a memorable and thought-provoking story of sisterhood, hope, courage, war, sacrifice, survival, love and hope. I highly recommend this impressive read.

𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐄: The Liberty Scarf
𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑: J’nell Ciesielski, Rachel McMillan, Aimie K. Runyan
𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑: Harper Muse Books
𝐏𝐔𝐁 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: ⁣ Nov. 19, 2024
𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: Historical Fiction
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 @jnellciesielski @rachkmc @bookishaimie @harpermusebooks @austenprose

{𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒}

Hope, Love, and a Scarf that Connects Three Women.

The Liberty Scarf is a stellar collaboration of three very talented authors.
A book that will hook you from start to finish – I literally couldn’t put it down. This was unique and absorbing, I found myself completely immersed in all three very distinct storylines. The seamless lyrical writing and rich imagery kept me completely immersed. Set during 1917 and 1918, during the turbulence of the First World War.
An emotional book about Iris Braxton, Geneviève Tremblay, Clara Janssens, whose own experience’s are tied to a scarf that weaves its self through each woman’s tale.

Reader’s will find this second collaboration between these three authors, a triumph.
Historical fiction fans will come away sated, and looking forward to more writing from all three authors.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒:🏷️
#thelibertyscarf #jnellciesielski #rachelmcmillan #aimiekrunyan #historicalfiction #historicalromance #collaborativenovel #wwIfiction #christmas #holidays #newbook #bookstagram #booktour #bookrec #austenprosepr

Thank you net galley for giving me this opportunity to read this book.
The story takes place in Europe and Canada during WWI.
There are three different authors of this book.
The three main characters are - Iris, Clara and Genevieve.

Iris is a young eoman who lives in London and works at Liberty doing paint blocks of other designers prints. Iris has aspirations of designing her own designs for Liberty scarves. On her way home with her future sister-in-law they stop in at a cafe/pub.
Unknown to her there were young men in there who were joking around and the one man Rex who went after Iris as she left the cafe/pub.

Genevieve is from Quebec but moved with her family to Maine. She works at New England Telephone and Telegraph Central Offices as an operator. Her boyfriend Peter also works there and it is believed that they will eventually marry. Genevieve wants to do better for herself so she can help her parents and siblings. She eventually gets a job in France as an oporator for the US military. Genevieve becomes a pen pal to Maxime.

Clara is from Belgium and helped care for her mother as she lay on deaths door. By chance she meets Roman. Roman is a musician who plays the violin.

By chance the three women are in Stasbourg.
The one thing that has helped them is a scarf that Iris has designed.

These are my own opinions.

Three different authors wrote a novella about three different women and how they are connected to each other by a scarf. Each of their stories is very different and basically unconnected but it's all pulled together at the end.

Iris lives in London and works as a color artist for the famous Liberty Co. She feels that the scarves she is coloring tend to be pretty outdated and she has dreams of having one of her own designs full of color accepted by the company. She meets Captain Conrad Jones who is recovering from wounds and when she is resistant to his charm, he soon wins her over. He encourages to follow her dream and continue to work on designs for her scarf. She is saddened when he is healed enough to return to battle. They agree to meet in Strasbourg, France after the war.

Geneviève Tremblay, a French-Canadian immigrant, is a telephone operator in Maine and enlists in the Signal Corp to serve as a bi-lingual operator in France. While there she meets Captain Maxime Auvray a winemaker. They begin to spend a lot of time with each other but she sees no future for them because she wants to return to the US and he plan to remain in France.

Clara Janssens is a Flemish Nurse, and violinist Roman Allaire is from Strasbourg. He's chosen to play for an orchestra that is touring the front lines. She works in hospitals also near the front lines. Their love of music brings them together and as the sparks begin to fly between them, the war gets between them and it begins to look as though they will never see each other again.

This was an interesting well told collection of connected novellas about the horror and destruction of World War I and how an item as small as a scarf could bring happiness to several different people.

Three authors, three novellas, a world at war, and one central idea woven through each story. Loved the concept for creating coherent and believable story arcs.

We first meet Iris and Rex in London. Iris is a designer working for Liberty, a London fashion house. She dreams of designing a scarf range for this famous house but doesn't have the right connections. Enter Rex, the architect engaged by the owners to lead the renovations and assist in the new Paris store design. I loved their banter and the friendship. Would war allow them it to develop into some more?

Genevieve has been shipped over to France from Portland as a signals phone operator. I loved Genevieve's spunk and strength of character. She is romantically connected to Peter, who comes from a wealthy American family. Jennie as she's known is from a working class background and believes her mother would want her to marry up! Enter Maxim, a charming Frenchman, who is fighting the war. He quickly falls for Genevieve's charms and happens to buy her a parting gift on going to war. A Liberty Scarf.

Our final story is set in Belgium where we meet Clara, a Flemish nurse, who has lived a sheltered life and doesn't know many people. She has recently lost her mother whom she nursed for her last years of life, giving her first hand experience for caring for others. While stationed in a Brussels hospital she tends to a wounded violinist, Roman and a friendship develops. Music was regarded as an effective instrument of war, helping sooth the soldiers as they had breaks from the fighting. Roman toured with an orchestra and was especially talented. Clara develops a lovely friendship with Annalise which I enjoyed. Friendships were something new for Clara and seeing her develop self-confidence and assertiveness is an important element of the story.

All three stories featured letter writing between the two lead characters which the story arcs continuity.

Genevieve's story was my favourite, primarily because of Genevieve. I found Clara and Roman's story a little tiresome, not a lot seemed to happen, and the scenes didn't feel like they were really moving the story forward.

It's very clever how the authors weave the scarf through each story. The epilogue brings all three stories together really well and once again I marvelled at their cleverness. I did, however, wonder if there was a little authorial addition in the end with the sudden re-appearance of one of the characters.

As one would expect from these authors, they write beautifully and even though we have three distinct stories the author's voices were sufficiently similar and different to allow consistency without any confusion.

I feel fortunate having received an early ebook copy of the book from Harper Muse via Net Galley. This has had no bearing on my review.

The Liberty Scarf is a collection of three WWI novellas loosely connected by a Liberty Scarf.

A scarf loosely connects three women during WWI. Iris is a painter at the Liberty Scarf Company. She dreams of the day she can submit her own designs and become the first female pattern designer; Genevieve is a phone operator; and Claire is a war nurse. The story tells each young woman’s war experiences and romances individually in a collection of three novellas and a satisfying epilogue.

“Hope is the things with feathers.”

Although the book has one straightforward timeline, it is divided into three novellas. Each young woman receives her own story which gives us three perspectives on the war. An epilogue ties them together and gives us a glimpse of their happy futures.

My ARC didn’t include author notes, so I cannot determine which author wrote a particular novella. Each novella has a noticeably different tone and style representative of the three authors. While they are all good, my favorite is the first one…Iris’s story. I loved her spirit, determination, and creativity. Her story is nicely paced and has a liveliness and personality that sets it apart from the other two.

Because the story is structured in novellas, it is like starting over at each one. Nothing connects them except for brief appearances of the Liberty scarf. It takes a bit to get into each young woman’s story as we must become acquainted with a new set of characters and circumstances. Within a few pages, we are once again fully immersed. If you’ve read Ribbons of Scarlet (with six authors), the structure is somewhat similar.

When Iris gets her chance to design, she also sews a message into each scarf: “Hope is the thing with feathers.” Women love her colorful and uniquely designed scarves and the message of hope! In the stories, the scarf represents hope for the war’s end and a better future, gestures of friendship and support, and beauty amid destruction and despair.

Each woman has a romantic interest. Iris meets a captain; Genevieve meets a French winemaker; and Claire meets a concert violinist. In the epilogue we find out if each couple survives the war.

Content Consideration: war trauma, medical content

I enthusiastically recommend The Liberty Scarf for readers who appreciate reading about WWI (a nice change of page from WWII) and strong, independent, and inspiring women.

Thanks #NetGalley @HarperMuseBooks @AustenProse for a complimentary e ARC of #TheLibertyScarf upon my request. All opinions are my own.

In The Liberty Scarf by Aimie Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski and Rachael McMillan, we are given an insight into the lives of three quite different but resolute women. There is Iris trying to get her talent seen and accepted. She is also attempting to decide her feelings for Rex. Clara is a nurse helping wounded men during World War I. Roman a young man drawn to music instead of his father’s profession. Genevieve was responsible for phone communications during the war. She is drawn to Maxime, whose world is so different from hers. All six of these people are drawn together by a horrific war and a beautiful scarf whose design is meant to inspire hope. A sweet novel.

The premise of this book is faschinating--what a great idea! I was so thrilled to follow the path of the scarf and the fates of the protagonists.

We seem to see more books written by multiple authors these days .Occasionally, this works but often, the 3 POV are hard to follow. I will say that I did have a difficult time following the 3 authors' stories. I did fine with the first one (Runyan's? I love her books) but once the second part of the story started, I began to struggle keeping names and details straight.

I really enjoy how these three stories are all different yet connected together. Iris just wants her sketches and ability to be recognized. The Great War has really taken a lot out of people, and they need hope for the future and life after the war. She finds inspiration for a new design after an unexpected friendship forms. Geneviève does all she can helping her family by enlisting in the US Army Signal Corps, so when she is offered an opportunity to deploy to France she struggles with leaving her family, but knows this is also an opportunity she cannot pass up. She has proven her bilingual skills, quickness and ability to follow direction and it has paid off. An encounter with a French Captain makes her feel seen again. She feels comfortable around him and a few letters back and forth with a friend is innocent, they are in the midst of war after all! When he leaves a parting gift of a beautiful scarf she had been eyeing, she can hardly find the words of thanks for what this mean to her. Clara has become a nurse and although she doesn't always seem to use traditional means, her skills have seemed to have helped many who've come through. When a violinist comes through, Clara feels a longing to be near him and help in any way she can. Taking care of his violin, she visits daily and often spins stories not knowing if he can hear her. As he heals and is getting ready to move on, the two realize what has developed between them. But war needs him and once again a scarf will keep hope alive. Loved the epilogue and how these three stories connected. Thank you to the authors for the complementary novel and to Austenprose PR for the tour invite. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

I enjoyed this trio of World War I stories connected by a Liberty scarf. Although the romance was definitely stronger than the history, the stories flowed smoothly and they kept my interest. I liked that they portrayed women in lesser-known roles. I’ve read a lot of World War I fiction, and these women and their stories were unique and interesting.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

oh boy. I have a feeling I am going to be an outlier in this review. I have been a fan of Aimie Runyan for sometime. I was not familiar with the other two authors.

This is a story about three women during WW1. I am not positive but I would guess that each author wrote one women's story. The first two stories were fantastic. My mom, sister, and I visited Liberty of London last year so I was intrigued about a story with that connection.

The issue is that the third story was completely disjointed, lagged, and confusing. This third part was so hard to read that I finally got to the point of skimming to just get to the end which was disappointing because I had recommended the book to my sister when I was 20% through.

Even though the authors did not shy away from the gore and tragedy of the war, it felt completely unbelievable to me that all three women and couples found their happily ever after.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 due to part 3 of the story otherwise this easily would have been a 4 star or higher read.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Liberty Scarf connects the stories of three women during WWI. The stories themselves are interesting and full of hope which is portrayed on a London of Liberty scarf. However, for me, the ending was too contrived and tied up too neatly.

Brilliant collaboration between three of my favorite authors. A scarf designed to unite the old with the new weaves together their individual stories set during WWI. The scarf is a brilliant symbol of hope, a gift of love and friendship during the darkest moments of the war.

Each author pens a story of a young woman who meets the hardships of war with resilience. Each woman found the courage to write her own story, learning to find acceptance and self-worth while utilizing her individual talents to serve and bring hope to others. While I loved each story, I found Genevieve's story resonated the most with me.

A perfect blend of history and romance. The threads of each individual story are woven together into a brilliant masterpiece at the satisfying conclusion.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author/publisher through Netgalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my won.