Do you like fascinating historical fiction with great characters? Then you may be interested in Natalie Jenner's historical fiction novels. I'm happy to share all that I know about this new novel and reveal the beautiful cover.
QUICK FACTS
·
Title: Every Time We Say Goodbye: A Novel
·
Author: Natalie Jenner
·
Genre: Historical Fiction
·
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (May 14, 2024)
·
Length: (336) pages
·
Format: Hardcover, eBook, & audiobook
· ISBN: 978-1250285188
BOOK
DESCRIPTION
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 at
a crossroads in 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 Vivien's last chance
for theatrical success. With her future in London not looking bright, at the
suggestion of her friend, Peggy Guggenheim, Vivien takes a job as a script
doctor on a major film shooting in Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. There she finds a
vibrant moviemaking 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 permeate the very soul of Italy.
As Vivien tries to forge a
new future for herself, she also searches for the long-buried truth of the
recent World War and the fate of her deceased fiancé lost in battle. Every
Time We Say Goodbye is a bold and moving 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.
(Every Time We Say
Goodbye is linked to The Jane Austen Society, & Bloomsbury
Girls by characters, but is a stand-alone novel.)
ADVANCE PRAISE
·
“I’m in awe
of Natalie Jenner’s new novel, which surprised me at every turn. At times
it reads like the juiciest historical tell all, boasting cameos by enduring
household names like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollabrigida, and featuring a party
where Ava Gardner dances on the table. But most importantly, this is a story
about damaged people who are still blinking into the light after the nightmare
of the Second World War. This beautiful book balances and explores the
most heroic aspects of humanity, and by extension the most evil. Every Time
We Say Good Bye is a heartbreaking, engrossing, and thoroughly dazzling
work of art that would make the filmmakers at the center of its story
proud.” —Nina de Gramont, New York Times and #1 Sunday Times
bestselling author of The Christie Affair
·
“Every Time
We Say Goodbye welcomes back beloved characters from Jenner’s previous
novels along with a new fascinating cast in Italy for the production of
post-war films. Well-researched and written in a perfect blend of harrowing
and heartwarming, this is another fabulous Natalie Jenner novel that historical
fiction fans will adore!” —Madeline Martin, New York Times
bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London and The Librarian
Spy
· “In her latest novel, Every
Time We Say Goodbye, Natalie Jenner deftly weaves in elegant prose, the
lives of the incredibly unique characters working to create a controversial war
film at the Cinecitta in Italy, and the effects they have on each other and
society. An emotionally poignant tale, that explores the human condition
before, during and after war, and how those experiences change some while
others remain unapologetically stuck. Ultimately, readers will find themselves
swept along on a vivid journey through 1950s Italy, wading through the pains of
the characters’ pasts and the sacrifices they made, in order to find a way to
their hopeful future. Every once in a while, a story comes along that really
grips you and inspires you to contemplate the choices we’re all given, and
Jenner has done that here. An absolute page-turner, I couldn’t put this
captivating book down.” —Eliza Knight, USA
Today bestselling author of The Mayfair Bookshop and Starring Adele
Astaire
A MESSAGE FROM AUTHOR
NATALIE JENNER
Hello Dear Readers,
Every Time We Say Goodbye was the hardest book I will ever write, and
the most rewarding.
It all started when I
learned about the world-famous Cinecittà movie
studio in Rome being used as a war refugee camp in the 1940s. People who had
been stripped of everything—homes, possessions, even their most basic
humanity—suddenly found themselves confined to life inside a “dream factory.” I
decided to set my third novel during a very specific, very cool time in
history—la dolce vita of mid 1950s Rome—while exploring the incredibly
complex and haunting legacy of that city under German occupation during the
Second World War.
I also wanted to know why
Vivien Lowry, a character from my book Bloomsbury Girls, had been so
angry all the time! I wondered if a woman could make the biggest mistake of her
life and move past the regret in a way that benefitted her and the world around
her. I never intended to write a dual timeline. I had been working on Every
Time We Say Goodbye for nearly a year when the voice of a young female
Italian resistance fighter codenamed la scolaretta—the schoolgirl
assassin—suddenly showed up on the page one day. Having witnessed the bravery
and sacrifice of so many to keep us safe during our world’s most recent
challenge, I wanted to pay tribute to them. How fortunate am I, through the
intimate and emotional power of historical fiction, to have the opportunity to
do so.
I packed everything I could
into this book: love and conflict, faith and religion, censorship and
resistance, art and moviemaking, fashion and food, and cameos by favorite
actresses such as Sophia Loren and Ava Gardner and characters from both The
Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls (I, myself am terrible at
goodbyes!).
I hope, more than anything,
that Every Time We Say Goodbye gives readers the entertainment,
inspiration and food for thought that nourished me throughout its writing.
Best wishes, Natalie
And the beautiful new cover . . .
What do you think?
Natalie Jenner is the internationally bestselling author of The
Jane Austen Society and Bloomsbury Girls, which have been translated
into more than twenty languages worldwide. 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.
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