Gaynor, Hazel, & Heather Webb. Three Words for Goodbye. New York: William Morrow, 2021.
ISBN-13: 978-0062965240 | $16.99 USD | 370 pages | Historical Fiction
Blurb
From Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, the bestselling authors of Meet Me in Monaco, comes a coming-of-age novel set in pre-WWII Europe, perfect for fans of Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Kate Quinn.
Three cities, two sisters, one chance to correct the past . . .
New York, 1937: When estranged sisters Clara and Madeleine Sommers learn their grandmother is dying, they agree to fulfill her last wish: to travel across Europe—together. They are to deliver three letters, in which Violet will say goodbye to those she hasn’t seen since traveling to Europe forty years earlier; a journey inspired by famed reporter, Nellie Bly.
Clara, ever-dutiful, sees the trip as an inconvenient detour before her wedding to millionaire Charles Hancock, but it’s also a chance to embrace her love of art. Budding journalist Madeleine relishes the opportunity to develop her ambitions to report on the growing threat of Hitler’s Nazi party and Mussolini’s control in Italy.
Constantly at odds with each other as they explore the luxurious Queen Mary, the Orient Express, and the sights of Paris and Venice,, Clara and Madeleine wonder if they can fulfil Violet’s wish, until a shocking truth about their family brings them closer together. But as they reach Vienna to deliver the final letter, old grudges threaten their reconciliation again. As political tensions rise, and Europe feels increasingly volatile, the pair are glad to head home on the Hindenburg, where fate will play its hand in the final stage of their journey.
Review
5 stars
Three Words for Goodbye is Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb’s third collaboration (with another forthcoming), and as always when I let books languish for so long on my TBR, I often kick myself for doing so when they end up being so amazing, but given how it slightly parallels the setup of the Amazing Readathon, in addition to fulfilling prompts, it’s also rather serendipitous.
I love how Gaynor and Webb continue to craft their fictional narratives cleverly around real events, from paying homage to Nellie Bly and her voyage alone around the world a few decades prior to the setting of the book, to the Hindenburg disaster to the general tense political climate in Europe a few years pre-World War II, with the rise of fascism.
At the heart of the story, though, is a beautiful narrative of sisterhood and family ties. Clara and Maddie have grown apart due to their differences, to the point of not speaking for a year. But both love their grandmother enough to honor her request to travel to Europe together to deliver letters to people from Violet’s past, with Violet arranging everything, and even leaving them sweet little notes along their journey.
There’s a lot going on, from discovering the secrets from Violet’s past which will shape what they know about her and their family history, and them coming into their own as they take away lessons from unearthing these revelations. Clara is engaged to a wealthy man, but soon finds her enthusiasm for that union tested, while Maddie’s journalistic efforts prosper, although not without it also testing the sisters’ growing bond.
I really loved this book, and I can’t wait for the authors’ next collaboration! I enthusiastically recommend this to readers looking for women-centric historical fiction.
Author Bio
Hazel Gaynor is an award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for her deeply moving historical novels which explore the defining events of the 20th century. A recipient of the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award, her work has since been shortlisted for multiple awards in the UK and Ireland. Her latest novel, The Last Lifeboat, was a Times of London historical novel of the month, shortlisted for the 2023 Irish Book Awards and recipient of the 2024 Audie Award for Best Fiction Narrator. Hazel’s work has been translated into twenty languages and is published in twenty-seven territories to date. She lives in Ireland with her family.
Heather Webb is the award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of ten historical novels, including her most recent The Next Ship Home, Queens of London, and Strangers in the Night. To date, her books have been translated to eighteen languages. She lives in Connecticut with her family and two mischievous cats.
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