Thrillers & Suspense
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The Lost Summers of Newport: A Novel
From the New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White-a novel of money and secrets set among the famous summer mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, spanning over a century from the Gilded Age to the present day.
"Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies…This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one."--Publishers Weekly (starred review"
2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America's most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America's gilded class-famous for the lavish "summer cottages" of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia "Lucky" Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion's ruined boathouse.
1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport's elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she's hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall.
1958: Lucia "Lucky" Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother-the American-born Princess di Conti-fled Mussolini's Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn't seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky's lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion's old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth...and change everything she thought she knew about her past.
As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever….
"Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies…This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one."--Publishers Weekly (starred review"
2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America's most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America's gilded class-famous for the lavish "summer cottages" of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia "Lucky" Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion's ruined boathouse.
1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport's elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she's hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall.
1958: Lucia "Lucky" Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother-the American-born Princess di Conti-fled Mussolini's Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn't seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky's lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion's old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth...and change everything she thought she knew about her past.
As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever….
Editorial Reviews
"Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies from Williams, Willig, and White…This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Three historical fiction powerhouses combine efforts to create an enthralling adventure spanning from the onset of World War I to the 1960s, telling the story of three women and their stay at the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris." - Book Riot on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"All three of these ‘team W' writers create engaging characters and complex relationships while setting a tone that matches the story's time period…The twist at the center of the story is worth the price of admission on its own. A great choice for anyone looking for clever historical fiction with plenty of drama, action, and surprises in every chapter." - Library Journal on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"A sweeping historical novel about the strength of women who find themselves in impossible situations." - Popsugar on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"Full of heart and intrigue, the authors' latest collaboration captures women's perseverance and how history connects us all." - Booklist on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"For most people, staying at a grand hotel is a rare treat. It's a time to indulge in luxury, to be catered to with impeccable service and to forget about the outside world until check-out. It's not unlike the experience a reader gets when reading All the Ways We Said Goodbye." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Three historical fiction powerhouses combine efforts to create an enthralling adventure spanning from the onset of World War I to the 1960s, telling the story of three women and their stay at the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris." - Book Riot on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"All three of these ‘team W' writers create engaging characters and complex relationships while setting a tone that matches the story's time period…The twist at the center of the story is worth the price of admission on its own. A great choice for anyone looking for clever historical fiction with plenty of drama, action, and surprises in every chapter." - Library Journal on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"A sweeping historical novel about the strength of women who find themselves in impossible situations." - Popsugar on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"Full of heart and intrigue, the authors' latest collaboration captures women's perseverance and how history connects us all." - Booklist on All the Ways We Said Goodbye
"For most people, staying at a grand hotel is a rare treat. It's a time to indulge in luxury, to be catered to with impeccable service and to forget about the outside world until check-out. It's not unlike the experience a reader gets when reading All the Ways We Said Goodbye." - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Readers Top Reviews
Debbie De Louise
This book attracted me because it takes place in Newport, Rhode Island, a place I'm hoping to visit one day. Written by three popular authors, the story is broken up into three time periods: current day (2019); 1899, and 1957. It follows the Sprague Family who own a mansion in Newport. In the present time, the mansion is the focus of a television show called Makeover Mansion. One of the people involved in its production, Andie, is a single mother to her sister's son. She takes on the project hoping to show viewers how a run-down old house can be renovated without changing its charm. However, the studio requests that she uncovers family scandals and the legend of the Lady in White, a ghost said to haunt the place. She and her crew have been given strict rules not to approach the owner of the home, Lucky "Lucia" Sprague, with any questions. They are also forbidden to film near the home's boathouse. These rules are given by Lucky's son, Lucas. His sister, Hayden doesn't even approve of the show. While working on the episode, Andie finds herself attracted to Lucas, although he's the type of guy she's avoided in the past due to a previous broken relationship. As she finds out more about the family, readers are shown events taking place in the past that reveal two secrets that changed the lives of Lucky and her relatives. In 1899, a music teacher was hired to instruct Maybelle Sprague, the heir to the Sprague fortune, a "penny" heiress as they called her. The object of her music lessons was to enchant an Italian prince her step-brother hoped to marry her off to, so that he and his family could afford to continue to live in the mansion. In 1957, after Maybelle (now known as Nonna) escapes Italy with her granddaughter Lucky and returns to Sprague Hall, Lucky and her husband have marital problems due to his alcoholism and adultery. He also accuses her of having an affair with Teddy, a friend from Italy. While this isn't true, Lucky has always been close to Teddy. As both the 1899 and 1957 events come to dramatic climaxes, the reader and Andi learn of two terrible secrets that have followed the generation of Spragues. It was difficult to put this story down. While I had some difficulty following the changes in years and characters, it all made sense in the end. There were several twists I didn't see coming. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries, historical fiction, tales about mansions and rich people, alternating time periods, and interesting characters.
