Publication Date: January 30, 2024
A brilliant and witty drama about two brave female World War II veterans who survived the unthinkable without ever losing their killer instinct…or their joie de vivre.
Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain’s most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their late nineties, Josephine and Penny are in huge demand, popping up at commemorative events and history 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 the liberation of France. And as always, they will be accompanied by their devoted great-nephew, Archie.
Keen historian Archie has always been given to understand that his great aunts had relatively minor roles in the Women’s Royal Navy and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, but that’s only half the story. Both sisters are hiding far more than the usual “official secrets”. There’s a reason sweet Auntie Penny can dispatch a would-be mugger with an umbrella.
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 variously intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last, daring heist before the curtain finally comes down on their illustrious careers.
The Williamson sisters are not slowing down. Despite being in their 90s, they are still looking for the next “excitement” of the day. With their great-nephew Archie, they travel to Paris to receive a well-deserved commendation. But nothing is as it seems. Chaos and scandal hit them, and their pasts come back to haunt them in The Excitements by CJ Wray.
Penny and Josephine Williamson have lived a full life. From visiting France right before its German occupation to serving in different ways in the war to exotic trips with their spouses, they haven’t slowed down. But now, in their 90s, their “excitements” look a little different. With help from their great-nephew, Archie, they travel the world receiving recognition for their service. But, when they travel to Paris for another commendation, they get a little more excitement than they thought. Traveling between the present day and many different points in the sisters’ lives, pieces of the puzzle come together, and gaps in their past fill in.
I really liked the premise of this book. I love strong women and love history. And for that, this book is wonderful. Each character is unique and have significant diversity in characters. I loved how accepting the sisters were of their nephew and the pure love they had for him. Josephine was by far my favorite character. She was measured, but you could tell there was always something else to her that you just couldn’t put your finger on. I loved going back to her story and diving deeper into her mind.
However, Penny was a little harder for me to like. She was very strong, which I do like in a character. But that strength, more often than not, came across as grating. She is very sure of herself and convinces herself that anything she does is for the right reasons, even if they aren’t. So much of this book is spent on Penny, I would say over half, and that was disappointing for me. I didn’t mind her story but wanted to learn about Josephine. And when I got closer to the end, I got even more frustrated as the author implied that Josephine’s story was much more interesting than we were led to believe. Why couldn’t we have learned about her past instead of just a throwaway line? I felt cheated by that decision. If a story is going to be told through multiple characters’ perspectives, do it equally, or don’t do it at all.
Finally, I wish I had known that this book had multiple timelines. I am not usually a fan of multiple timelines, and in this book, the timelines are not linear. They bounced from 1940 to 2022, 1960 to 1942, and on and on. I had a very hard time keeping track of the timeline. This book had fantastic potential and I believe that if the book was more balanced with characters, this could have been a five-star review.
The Excitements is a fun adventure into the past and a great balance between who we were and who we become. Pick up this book for your own “excitement,” and don’t forget, Toujours gai!
CJ Wray is the pseudonym of Christine Manby, a Sunday Times bestselling author with more than forty books to her name. Raised in the west of England, she studied psychology before embarking on an entertaining and wide-ranging career that has seen her selling kitchens, editing erotica, interviewing an armed robber, and impersonating a princess.
