Till We Meet Again [Mass Market Paperback]

Judith Krantz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1989

Eve dared. . . Eve, with passion that overruled her total innocence, ran away from home to live in unrepentant sin; won stardom singing on the stage of the Parisian music halls before Worlds War I; married into the world of international diplomacy; and become the greatest lady Champagne.  Eve's younger daughter, Freddy, inherited all of her mother's recklessness.  Growing up in California, she became a pilot by sixteen; throughout World War II she ferried war planes in Britain--a glorious redhead who captured men with one humorous, challenging glance.  Eve's elder daughter, Delphine, exquisite, gifted, and wild, romped through the nightlife of Hollywood of the thirties.  On a whim, she made a screen test in Paris and soon found herself a great star of French films.  She chose to risk her life in occupied France because of a love that transformed her frivolity into courage.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The French province of Champagne, the rainy streets of Paris and the sun-warmed boulevards of Los Angeles provide the setting for a largely enjoyable new novel from Krantz, doubtless bound for the same bestseller status that carried Scruples and I'll Take Manhattan. On the morning of her 60th birthday, Vicomtesse Eve de Lancel recalls her madcap years as a music-hall singer before she married the younger son of the Lancel champagne family. Her happily married daughters, beautiful Delphine and high-spirited Freddy, have an equal number of sizzling secrets to sort through. Delphine starts life as an exceedingly proper young princess, then goes utterly astray, becoming an overnight sensation as a French actress known for seducing and devouring directors. Meanwhile, her red-haired sister conducts a love affair with planes to rival that of Amelia Earhart's. While Delphine lives through the German occupation of WW II Paris, Freddy is aloft in Britain, ferrying Spitfires to squadrons of flying aces. No Krantz novel would be complete without a villain, and their half-brother Bruno outdoes Machiavelli as he plots a money-strewn path to the top. The sharp and amusing romantic cross-talk at which Krantz excels is much in evidence here. Although the first third of this hefty tome drags, fans can be assured of an exhilarating read once Freddy surges to the fore. 500,000 first printing; $500,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; first serial to Cosmopolitan; TV rights to CBS .
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Krantz's four earlier novels have topped the best-seller lists and been turned into successful TV mini- series; this one should be no exception. Creating glamorous characters living fascinating lives in exciting places is a talent that Krantz continues to use very well. Her heroines here are a mother and daughter who move in the World War II-era worlds of Parisian music halls, champagne vineyards, and moviemaking in both France and the United States. In their quest for adventure and romance, there's heartbreak as well as the usual steamy sex and, complicating everone's life, an evil half brother. Despite its strengths, the story has a disappointing denouement. Regardless, there will be a demand for this book in public libraries. Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (May 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553280147
• ISBN-13: 978-0553280142
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #928,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Krantz's best, May 25, 2000

By 

"ginevra" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Till We Meet Again (Mass Market Paperback)

I am admittedly not a great fan of Judith Krantz's upperclass, usually eccentric and oversexed protagonists, but this novel about three women (the mother and two daughters) who, in their private way, become heroines of the World Wars, truly impressed me. Krantz weaves a very tight atmosphere around her settings, giving even the most unlikely situations cerrdibility (like one scene where a freight plane plays 'dare' with a Messerschmitt propelled fighter-and wins!)

This and other slightly unhistorical accounts are what made me subtract a star from the rating, but as far as reading pleasure goes, I could not put this book down. I started it at around ten p.m., and was still at it by five in the morning, so well had the characters and the storylines caught me.

I recommend reading this book, so long as you're not looking for a lesson in European history, but for a story and protagonists that you can feel for.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like a three-hanky B&W '40s melodrama movie, December 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Till We Meet Again (Mass Market Paperback)

This one is a bit different from the other Krantz novels because it is all set in the past (the 1910s to the 40s). There are three heroines - Eve, and her two daughters, Delphine and Frederique. They are French - Ms.Krantz seems to be obsessed with a certain romantic view of the French. Most of it is set in France, with some parts in wartime England and pre-and post-war California. It will remind you of those great melodramatic weepers they used to make in the '30s and '40s starring people like Vivien Leigh and Greer Garson.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I really thought I would like it..., September 25, 2004

By 

Rilchiam "Rilchiam" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Till We Meet Again (Mass Market Paperback)

It started out great. Eve, in the 1910s, was fascinating to me. If I'm going to read something set in another era, the earlier the better, because the less likely I am to have heard the same things before. I loved the description of Paris and the music-hall scene, and I thought it was terrific that Eve was ambitious enough to shrug off Alain's rejection and become a star.

But she didn't live up to her potential! She stopped being a dynamic character. Every few chapters she popped up to express mild regret that she'd become a society dame and wonder what had happened to "Maddy", then go back to arranging flowers. She was so interesting at first, but Krantz made it seem like her ultimate purpose was just to produce Delphine and Freddy.

And the chronology was inconsistent. Delphine's and Freddy's storylines were completely separate, so they jumped all over the place: sometimes we caught up with one of them years after we'd seen them before; sometimes they were doing different stuff in the same year. The WWII timeline in particular was so disjointed, I thought I was reading alternate history.

And except for Eve (early on), none of the characters were particularly interesting. Freddy was too perfect; Delphine was too passive; Bruno was too obviously evil. The friction between Tony and Freddy was told, not shown, and Jane, who had a lot of potential as a sidekick, was only used as a plot device.

And I think the opening sequence was a bad idea. If we know going in that Freddy's going to have more than one child, and Dephine's going to continue to be a film star, that removes any mystery about the ending.

Two stars only because I liked the first few chapters. Otherwise, skip it and read Mistral's Daughter instead.