Review: Whisper Goodbye by Myra Johnson

Strong WWI Romance

Gilbert Ballard lost his beau, Annemarie Kendall, because of his attitude when he returned home from the trenches of World War I France, and now he seems to be driving away another woman he loves, nurse Mary McClarney. For her part, Mary loves Gilbert but can’t trust him to not retreat into his vices—drugs, alcohol and gambling—in times of stress.

Whisper Goodbye is the sequel to When the Clouds Go By, the story of Annemarie and Army chaplain Samuel Vickeray. While the two can each be read as stand-alone
novels, there are mentions of certain incidents from the first book in Whisper Goodbye, so it would be better not to read them out of order.

I enjoyed Whisper Goodbye as it continued to show Gilbert’s personal and spiritual growth, but without being preachy (if anything, I would have liked a little more emphasis on that, particularly as Mary and her mother were plainly Catholic, while Gilbert and the other characters weren’t).

The plot was good, and I especially liked the way it brought a natural conclusion to the central romance while introducing more minor characters, perhaps to set them up for the sequel. The characters were strong, in that they each had distinct personalities, and each had their own issues to overcome.

Overall, Whisper Goodbye is a strong historical romance, set in a time period I enjoy reading about, and with some deeper themes to get me thinking.

Thanks to Abingdon and NetGalley for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Myra Johnson at her website.