Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
This story is told in letters primarily between Evie Elliott, home in London, and her brother’s best friend, Thomas Harding, starting as he departs for France at the beginning of WWI. Their correspondence gives us a glimpse into the experiences many faced during the war both at home and at the front. It allows us to see the change of attitude toward the war from the beginning till the end. It is both heartbreaking and beautiful and has a romance you’ll be rooting for.
This book was at the top of my December TBR list last year after seeing so many rave reviews in 2018 and it definitely met (and possibly exceeded) my high expectations. It’s one of those books that I stayed up way too late with because I just couldn’t stop reading! I didn’t find it to be a very Christmasy book, so even if you’re a seasonal reader, don’t hesitate from picking up this book at any point in the year!
This book is very reminiscent of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in tone and in that it’s also an epistolary novel. It also reminded me a bit of Maisie Dobbs as far as the time period and some of the characters.
Are you a fan of epistolary novels? I find that they sometimes take me a little longer to get into, but I’ve been a fan of all the ones I’ve read. Do you have any you recommend? Some of my other favorite epistolary novels are 84 Charing Cross Road and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062562685
Get it at: Amazon or Book Depository
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Summary from publisher:
August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.
But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?
Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…
Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb Book Review.
