All the Ways We Said Goodbye

A Novel of the Ritz Paris

By: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White

Narrated by: Helen Sadler, Nicola Barber, Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling authors of The Glass Ocean and The Forgotten Room return with a glorious historical adventure that moves from the dark days of two World Wars to the turbulent years of the 1960s, in which three women with bruised hearts find refuge at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel.

The heiress....
The Resistance fighter....
The widow....
Three women whose fates are joined by one splendid hotel

France, 1914. As war breaks out, Aurelie becomes trapped on the wrong side of the front with her father, Comte Sigismund de Courcelles. When the Germans move into their family’s ancestral estate, using it as their headquarters, Aurelie discovers she knows the German Major’s aide de camp, Maximilian Von Sternburg. She and the dashing young officer first met during Aurelie’s debutante days in Paris. Despite their conflicting loyalties, Aurelie and Max’s friendship soon deepens into love, but betrayal will shatter them both, driving Aurelie back to Paris and the Ritz - the home of her estranged American heiress mother, with unexpected consequences.

France, 1942. Raised by her indomitable, free-spirited American grandmother in the glamorous Hotel Ritz, Marguerite “Daisy” Villon remains in Paris with her daughter and husband, a Nazi collaborator, after France falls to Hitler. At first reluctant to put herself and her family at risk to assist her grandmother’s Resistance efforts, Daisy agrees to act as a courier for a skilled English forger known only as Legrand, who creates identity papers for Resistance members and Jewish refugees. But as Daisy is drawn ever deeper into Legrand’s underground network, committing increasingly audacious acts of resistance for the sake of the country - and the man - she holds dear, she uncovers a devastating secret...one that will force her to commit the ultimate betrayal, and to confront at last the shocking circumstances of her own family history.

France, 1964. For Barbara "Babs" Langford, her husband, Kit, was the love of her life. Yet their marriage was haunted by a mysterious woman known only as La Fleur. On Kit’s death, American lawyer Andrew "Drew" Bowdoin appears at her door. Hired to find a Resistance fighter turned traitor known as "La Fleur", the investigation has led to Kit Langford. Curious to know more about the enigmatic La Fleur, Babs joins Drew in his search, a journey of discovery that that takes them to Paris and the Ritz - and to unexpected places of the heart....

©2020 Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White (P)2020 HarperAudio

Loved it

I think this might be my favorite of the author trios writings. I listened to this on Audible and the narration was also excellent. Told by three different authors about three different women in three different time periods and weaving it all together. Fantastic!

Predictable plot

Midway through the book a reader can surmise the plot “twists” which I won’t reveal.

Narration

Narration of the the American characters is off putting. So much so I had trouble getting involved with those characters. That may be why the story fell short for me.

All the Ways We said goodbye

This book was written very well. The different years all coming to a nice ending. Beautiful story.

Keep listening

It’s a bit confusing at first with the different characters but after that you know them and the story keeps getting better.

Recommended!

Very enjoyable and moving story. I enjoyed the challenge of working out the links between the three time periods and having to remember who belonged to whom without paging back in a hard copy. Definitely a worthwhile listen!

Overall a good book

It jumped from character and time so often it was a bit hard to follow at times. I figured it out in the end.

Brilliant

Enticing stories . You Can’t get enough of this book. Hard to put down & the readers are exceptional.

An amazing story

This was an incredibly written, interwoven story about WWII from a different perspective! Loved it

enthralling

Loved it. The plot keeps you guessing who Daisy is, though I figured it out in the last half of the book. But even so, you just HAVE to keep listening to find out what happens to all of the characters you come to love and respect throughout the 3 different time-periods.