Cynthia Sally Haggard

Farewell My Life is really three books in one; the first The Lost Mother, then An Unsuitable Suitor and finally the last book, Farewell My Life. They tell the story of an Italian family living in Washington – a mother – Angelina, her two daughters – Grace and Violet, and their aunt – Paulina.

In the first section the story begins with the girls’ mother Angelina and her unconventional manner of earning her living in the nation’s capitol. It was not a time when women generally worked and so she used her skills as best she could to try and support her family. It was in pursuit of finding another patron that she meets Mr. Russel, a man she can’t quite get a handle on like her other acquaintances. She brings him home and that’s when the trouble starts.

The middle section has the family moving to Germany so that Grace, the youngest daughter can train with a master in violin. She is quite talented and also quite naive particularly in how she is seen by men. Berlin in the period between the two World Wars is city of contradictions. Grace finds herself pursued by a number of men and is she engaged?

The third book allows for the rise of Hitler and the Nazis as Berlin gets darker and darker. Grace finds herself married and has children but her marriage is more of a possession than a love affair. There are twisted relationships and true love might yet be out there somewhere. It ends on Kristallnacht with, if you ask me some questions left.

This was a dark family drama to say the least. Very compelling to read if quite difficult at times. The relationships are challenging and the time period is obviously not the most jolly in history. Ms. Haggard has a writing style that keeps the reader engaged even when the topic at hand is not pleasant. My only issue at all with the book was the ending – it just seemed very abrupt. Other than that I’m going to keep this one for a possible second read. I think it will be one that is appreciated better on a second go round.… (más)

The war had been over for less than four years, and Berlin was full of amputees begging on the streets, of gaunt young men startling at the slightest thing.

This is a splashy, dramatic historical novel that reads like a mix of penny dreadfuls, 1980s Joan Collins romances, and any number of thrillers. Mixing a tumultuous, intriguing setting -- Europe in 1921 and 1922, then a jump to 1938 -- with a dysfunctional family saga, this book is like a froofy cocktail in a bubble bath: a little excessive but oh-so good.

What I so appreciated and enjoyed in this book was the mix of expected and surprising in the story. I've read many pre-war historical novels and any number of gifted-heroine-exposed-to-the-world coming-of-age stories, but Haggard picked unique details that made this story new. The heroine at the heart of this novel is Grace, an Italian-American woman with a gift for the violin. Her mother, an Italian immigrant, made a life for Grace and her sister Violet by being a mistress and courtesan, a lifestyle choice Grace and Violet both appreciate and revile. A tall glass of cold, dark, and handsome shows up and plunges the family into turmoil with his obsessive interest in Grace and equally obsessive dislike for her mother.

From this dramatic start, we follow Grace as she attempts to pursue her dream of becoming a concert violinist. Beholden to those with wealth, surrounded by those damaged by World War I, and impacted by family secrets she struggles to uncover, Grace tries to find her own happiness on her own terms. Berlin in 1922 provides a salacious backdrop for an orphaned teen to come into her own. Like I said earlier, this plot is outrageous but in a Sidney Sheldon/Joan Collins/Kathryn Harvey manner: just verging on the unbelievable but not tipping over. It's absolutely perfect for when you want something fun, dramatic, and ohemgee-did-that-just-happen?-ish. And while it clocks in at 586 pages, the length is enough that it's like reading a miniseries rather than a brick tome.

My only critique about this book is that there are places where it shows that this is a self-published novel: passages are repeated verbatim in multiple chapters, and profanities are sometimes obscured (usually with an asterisk replacing one letter, which doesn't seem appropriate for a finished book, and doubly so when not all profanities are treated this way). Now and then there's an errant word that should have been caught in editing, and at one point (maybe more) the font and formatting switch from the rest of the book (and not for, as far as I can tell, any narrative reason).

As we head into the autumn and the season of family-oriented holidays, consider keeping this one in your back pocket (metaphorically) when you want to escape -- and bask in having a family far less treacherous than our girl Grace.… (más)

*I won a copy of this book via Goodreads Giveaways*

This was a unique read for me in that I don't normally read books written in this time period. The stories were short and to the point, very simple. They were also quite informative. I didn't particularly feel any emotional attachment as I was reading these, but still enjoyed them well enough. I also appreciate that they were written in modern English, and not geared more toward the language of the time.

I certainly can't imagine what it must have been like to be promised to someone at 9 years old, but was grateful for Cecylee that she was able to delay her marriage as she wished to. I was quite surprised that she fell for the archer, since Richard seemed to love her, but, she did.… (más)