Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb Book Review

 Title: Last Christmas in Paris

Author: Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Goodreads Rating: 4.15 ★
My Rating: 5★

“I find myself wondering if real, honest love can flourish in times of war, or if we are all just grasping desperately to the slightest suggestion of it, like drowning men clinging to life.”

Book Blurb from Goodreads:

     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…

     Simply put, this book is a masterpiece. It is an epistolary novel, so the entirety of the book consists of letters, letters written mainly between the two main characters, Evie Elliot and Thomas Harding. These letters tell of the desolation of war, the heartache at the death of loved ones, and the longing for simpler moments in times of peace. However, it is also through these letters that Evie and Tom fall in love. 
     This book takes its readers through the very first moments of the "war to end all wars" when hope was high, and brave but naive young men sought the thrill of battle and glory, and everyone believed that it would all be over by Christmas. But the war continues on, and Tom and Evie continue writing throughout it all, exchanging dreams, hopes, and heartache with one another. 
     Through these letters, the reader is taken along with Evie and Tom as they navigate the trials of war and the lessons they learn along the way -- lessons in gratitude, perseverance, and love, as well as self-discovery. 
      This book is a beautiful tribute to those brave souls, on and off the battlefield, who fought and persevered for their country and their loved ones. Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb bring it to life through the epistolary style that makes one feel as if they have just discovered some long-lost letters of two young people falling in love amidst a war torn nation.