Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner is set in Rome during its heyday of film making just 10 years after the end of WWII. The contrast of glitz and glamour and the lingering effects of war create a novel of reality vs. illusion. Perfect for those who love historical novels set in the mid-20th century.
The bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls returns with a brilliant novel of love and art, of grief and memory, of confronting the past and facing the future.
In 1955, Vivien Lowry is facing the greatest challenge of her life. Her latest play, the only female-authored play on the London stage that season, has opened in the West End to rapturous applause from the audience. The reviewers, however, are not as impressed as the playgoers and their savage notices not only shut down the play but ruin Lowry’s last chance for a dramatic career. With her future in London not looking bright, at the suggestion of her friend, Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien takes a job in as a script doctor on a major film shooting in Rome’s Cinecitta Studios. There she finds a vibrant movie making scene filled with rising stars, acclaimed directors, and famous actors in a country that is torn between its past and its potentially bright future, between the liberation of the post-war cinema and the restrictions of the Catholic Church that permeates the very soul of Italy.
As Vivien tries to forge a new future for herself, she also must face the long-buried truth of the recent World War and the mystery of what really happened to her deceased fiancé. Every Time We Say Goodbye is a brilliant exploration of trauma and tragedy, hope and renewal, filled with dazzling characters both real and imaginary, from the incomparable author who charmed the world with her novels The Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls.
Natalie Jenner is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY and BLOOMSBURY GIRLS, which have been translated in over twenty languages worldwide. Natalie’s third novel, EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE, releases on May 14, 2024. Born in England and raised in Canada, Natalie has been a corporate lawyer and career coach and once owned an independent bookstore in Oakville, Ontario, where she lives with her family and two rescue dogs.
My Impressions:
Every Time We Say Goodbye follows Vivien Lowery who readers first met in Bloomsbury Girls. After her latest London play receives negative reviews, Vivien travels to Rome to find both a new start and a closure for old heartbreaks. This novel is set during the film heyday that Italy enjoyed in the 1950s. American screenwriters, directors, and actors enjoyed a kind of freedom not found during the McCarthy-era witch hunts in Hollywood. But with this “freedom” comes a new kind of censorship from the Catholic church. I found this thread of the novel interesting, and real-life Hollywood stars make their appearances, giving the novel a touch of glitz and glamour. But it is the second plot line that I found the most intriguing. The reader is introduced to the Italian resistance fighters of WWII. I found the fabricated fairytale lives of those in the film making industry an insightful backdrop to the selflessness of those who sacrificed so much. There is so much contradiction — those wanting to forget or tidy up the past and those who want to expose it in all its harsh reality. In the end the novel is one of finding purpose and truth in a world that seems only to want a perfect storybook ending.
Fans of Jenner’s earlier novels and those who love historical fiction set in the mid-20th century will not want to miss this book!
Recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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