Book Review: Last Christmas in Paris

By Jessica Asbell

Last Christmas in Paris is a novel told through letters. It opens in December 1968. Thomas Harding, at the end of his life, is going to spend one last Christmas in Paris because of a promise he made to his now deceased spouse. As he travels, he rereads the letters that began a lifelong love story, a love story born out of pain, heartache, and the Great War.

Thomas fought in WWI, alongside his best friend, Will. As Thomas and Will go off to war, Evie, Wills sister, writes them letters. Thus, Evie and Thomas (Lieutenant Thomas Archibald Harding) strike up a friendship filled with letters sent back and forth about the changes at home and the trenches of war, and they slowly fall in love. Through all the letters written in this novel, we see a vivid picture of WWI, and a love forged through grief, pain, and tragedy.

Each character will be changed by this war. But in the midst of it all, Thomas and Evie never lose sight of each other, so when the dust settles, and the war is over, their devotion is what will help them pick up the pieces of their lives and begin again.

This book was tough to put down. Each of the characters letters bring them to life, revealing their hopes, dreams, faults, and their burning desire to make it through the war to spend Christmas in Paris. As dreams are shattered and new ones are birthed, we learn what each character is made of. This is a very unique book. Since it is told in letter form, the characters seem more real. You will laugh with them, cry with them, and you will desperately want to know what happens. This Christmas season, spend some time with Last Christmas in Paris. Allow it to transport you to a different time, when hope was urgently needed, and when an encouraging word could mean the difference between survival and giving up.