We chose this book for our December book club read without anyone having read it. But the reviews were good and historical fiction is usually a good gamble. It turns out that I would highly recommend this book! It is a novel written mostly in letters during World War I in England and France. It starts in August of 1914 when Evie's brother Will and his best friend Thomas enlist in fighting in the war. They all talk about how they will get together at Christmas in Paris in celebration. They all believe it will be a short war and everyone will be safe and at home by Christmas. Of course, four Christmases pass before World War I does end.
The book is written mostly in letters back and forth between the characters as they describe details about what they are doing on the war front and back at home. I found this so fascinating to just hear about some of the little details that were happening. The authors did a good job of showing how hopeful everyone is at the beginning and how difficult and hard it becomes. Evie is also a writer for the newspaper and so her articles are inserted into the text too. It might take a little bit to get into the pacing of this book. There are no chapter divisions and you have to pay attention to who is writing to who and when it is happening. Once you get the rhythm it is easy to read.
This book is very romantic and hope-filled despite the sadness and discouragement it tells. I was wondering if it would make a good movie and I think it would. I watched the movie, Tolkien on Netflix this week. It is the biographical story of J. R. R. Tolkien. In this movie, he enlists in WWI and the movie shows the horrors and difficulty of the war. It was a great movie to watch when I finished reading Last Christmas in Paris. I could imagine the book scenes even better.
This book is on my favorite books of the year list!
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