Review: The Excitements

The Excitements by C.J. Wray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though this book was fabulous, it took quite a while to reach that point.

Some of the issues I had with this novel were:
The language - thank goodness my Kindle has a translator. The old-fashioned British language also threw me for a loop at times.
The chapters jumped from year to year, century to century, and not in a straightforward manner.

All this aside, the story was riveting. There were so many secrets, some that I figured out independently and some that just floored me when I found out.

The ending kept me riveted, and I wish there were more to the book so we could have had some solid tie-ups for some of the secondary characters.

I loved this book, and it will be going on my re-read shelf!

ARC was supplied by the publisher, HarperCollins, the author C. J. Wray, and NetGalley. My thanks.

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"A brilliant and witty drama about two elderly female World War II veterans with a secret past who embark on one last adventure to right some historic wrongs.

Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain’s most beloved World War II veterans. Now in their late nineties, Josephine and Penny are in huge demand, beloved of journalists and producers, popping up on red carpets and at fundraisers and festivals all over the country. Despite their age, they’re still in great form—perfectly put together, sprightly and sparky, and always in search of their next “excitement.”

This time it’s a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d’Honneur for their part in liberating France. As always, they will be accompanied by their devoted gay nephew, Archie, who moved in with his aunts right after he came out. The press has always reported that these lady heroes worked for the Royal Navy and the nursing corps, but that’s their official cover. In reality, Josephine was an intelligence operative who drew maps used for the D-Day invasion while Penny was a spy and specialist at hand-to-combat, risking her teenage life in France. And this trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have always quietly trailed the Williamson sisters, even in the decades after the war.

Now armed with new information about an old adversary, these much decorated (but admittedly ancient) veterans intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last, daring heist before the curtain finally comes down on their illustrious careers.

A deliciously fast-paced and witty drama, The Excitements is the tale of two remarkably clever and brave women who helped save the world and survived the unthinkable, without ever losing their killer instinct... or their joie de vivre."