Last year I read Bloomsbury Girls and loved it. This upcoming spring (I know, I know...it's so far away!) author Natalie Jenner is releasing her third novel Every Time We Say Goodbye with one of the characters from that book. It's set in post-war Rome, one of my favorite cities in the world.
What was the author's inspiration for writing this novel? I'll let her tell you in this message to her readers:
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
BOOK DETAILS:
Title: Every Time We Say Goodbye by 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, and Bloomsbury Girls by characters, but is a stand-alone novel.)
Thank you Natalie for giving us a glimpse of what promises to be another fantastic read.
And now for the cover reveal:
Isn't that a stunning cover! I just love it, and it makes me so eager to read the novel.
BOOK DETAILS:
Title: Every Time We Say Goodbye by 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, and Bloomsbury Girls by characters, but is a stand-alone novel.)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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