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The Invitation
The Invitation: A Novel | Lucy Foley
22 posts | 26 read | 29 to read
The worlds darkest hour had made her a ghost. Only he can see the light Rome, 1953: Hal and Stella meet by chance, two outcasts in a city far from home. Or perhaps it was the hand of the gods that night as the Eternal City welcomed the beautiful elite to its rooftops. Its a bright awakening for Hal, he believes hes found the love of his life his Stella, his star. To his dismay, the mysterious girl disappears as quickly as she swept in, and Hals life as a journalist falls back into its familiar routine. But when hes asked by an Italian Contessa to assist on a trip of a lifetime acting as the reporter on a tremendous yacht, skimming its way along the Italian Riviera towards Cannes film festival, the most famous movie stars and directors of the day as its cargo Hal cant believe his good fortune. Especially when a familiar beauty becomes passenger. Yet not all that glitters is gold, for many secret histories lurk beneath the surface of these Bright Young Things. Stella is bound to a powerful and profoundly dangerous man, and as Hals obsession grows with every passing wave, they sail closer towards a tragic fate.
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Eva_B
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Pickpick

I enjoyed reading the well read library copy of this book! Beautiful settings (Italy in the 1950s and Spain at the end of the civil war), great characters and interesting story. I don‘t know why her books are not more highly rated.

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Itchyfeetreader
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Mehso-so

The oldest book on my kindle. This was an intriguing premise - down at luck writer travels with cast and backers of a movie to Cannes for the films debut - on the way learning everyone story. It was beautiful telling of the early 1950s and the glamour of Italy but it was an ensemble book that picked the wrong 2 protagonists - would love to have read the Contessa story more than Stella and Hal‘s

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BookwormAHN
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Mehso-so

This book was just okay. It has a cool premise of Hal, a writer who receives an exclusive invitation to go with a movie group to the Cannes Film Fest in the 1950s. There is a second plot, that of the journal that the movie is based on. The journal is actually more interesting, and the love affair between Hal and Stella is rather predictable, and the twist ending is predictable.
#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks #Booked2023 #sunshinenoir

Cinfhen The cover is so striking! Too bad the book was #MoreMehThanYeah 1y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 1y
Itchyfeetreader Oh o have had this on my kindle forever ! 14mo
52 likes4 comments
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Bec_lectic
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Mehso-so

So I almost bailed on this book but for some reason pushed through for an underwhelming ending. Foley is a good writer but this story just fell flat for me & never really kept my interest. Hal, a journalist falls in love with a mysterious woman whom he meets at a party only to lose her & find her again on a writing assignment years later. He slowly unfolds her secrets where the story flips through the past a & present. Overall just a bore for me

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

Wrapping my August #DoubleSpin with a few days to spare. I enjoyed this, thought it‘s a bit different from my first Lucy Foley read (The Guest List). I enjoyed the story as it unfolded but may have wanted a bit more at the end…3.5 ⭐️

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
33 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Amoon
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Pickpick

Didn‘t love this one as much as other books by Foley, but really loved the setting - the Italian Riviera and the characters. I thought the ending was too abrupt. Hal is a damaged man from his horrendous experiences in the Navy during WWII. Elsa aka Estrella is a survivor from the same era in Spain. They are invited by a wealthy, charming Contessa along with the cast and crew of a film she has developed. Everyone has a past to deal with

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LisaLovesToRead
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Pickpick

I started this as an audiobook & finished it reading it. I did enjoy it, but think it would have been less disjointed if I hadn‘t taken so long to get through it. I‘m curious what others think, so please share your reactions.

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aliasNayNay
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Pickpick

THE INVITATION....an enchanting story about saving each other by saving one self. A beautiful love story to hold in our hearts. A cast of unforgettable characters, and the lavish description of the Italian coast was so powerful I felt like I was on holiday.

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Amie
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Today's #bookhaul from Thriftbooks: two books I purchased mainly because I like the covers 😄 I've read both. I read The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress as an arc from netgalley and I'll be re-reading it in a couple months for book club. The Invitation was ok, but I think the cover is so pretty with the pinks and greens that I really wanted my own copy.

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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 6! Rome, 1953, Hal, an itinerant journalist, meets the mysterious Stella on a palazzo rooftop. A year later, he gets an invitation to be the reporter on a luxury yacht heading up the Italian coast to the Cannes Film Festival interacting with the world's most famous artists and movie stars. And he sees Stella again, with whom he wants to help overcome her secretive past. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

BookBabe Fifties! Yes! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 #stacked 7y
43 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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bio_chem06
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Has anyone seen problems of book nerds? They are so funny & dead on!

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bio_chem06
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Am such a non-fiction junkie but when I went to the library this week, I just needed a palette cleanser. I'm not a big romance person, and I'm super picky about fiction, but I'm really enjoying this book. I can't put it down. Went to bed to get some sleep, 75 pages later I'm still awake. #oops

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ellenorange
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Me time 📚📖☕️

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Melissa9963
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Pickpick

Atmospheric historical fiction, set mostly in the 1950s in Italy and the Mediterranean, with some flashbacks to WWII. Two damaged people find that they do have the strength to share their secret burdens with each other. But they must be careful, since one of them is married.

The cast of characters in this novel are eccentric, and I grew fond of them. The descriptions of the locations their group visits in their journey are vivid. Well done!

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Melissa9963
Pickpick

Atmospheric historical fiction, set mostly in the 1950s in Italy and the Mediterranean, with some flashbacks to WWII. Two damaged people find that they do have the strength to share their secret burdens with each other. But they must be careful, since one of them is married.

The cast of characters in this novel are eccentric, and I grew fond of them. The descriptions of the locations their group visits in their journey are vivid. Well done!

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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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Pickpick

I stayed up pretty late to finish! I just had to know how it ended. Really great reading and reminds me a touch of BEAUTIFUL RUINS. I feel however that the blurbs on back miss the point of this book - it's not a "dazzling romance"?? To me it was about obsession, possession, power over Stella and long kept secrets. Creation of new self, redemption. I do recommend!

Penny_LiteraryHoarders And as to the chapters referencing Her instead of Stella - I think because she wasn't Estrella anymore from 1936 and this new person she became - Stella - isn't her true self either. So she is Her. 8y
Reading_E You had me at Beautiful Ruins 8y
JenlovesJT47 I love the cover! 8y
See All 6 Comments
Penny_LiteraryHoarders I know! I couldn't stop staring at the cover @JenlovesJT47! The cover reminded me of 8y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders @Reading_E it's another great love letter to Italy, but has cast and crew from movies too. 🙂 8y
JenlovesJT47 Of course, my library holds limit is maxed out! 😤 figures! 8y
37 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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Oops! On page 197, (shown above) Stella says she lost the two fingers on her Right hand, but on page 24, it is said she lost two fingers on her Left. 😱 I caught that one only because of reading The Long, Hot Summer and in there being a character missing the same two fingers!

Lindy Excellent catch! I was at a reading where David Mitchell caught a similar mistake in his own work as he was reading aloud from 8y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders Oh that's an awesome story @Lindy!! Was he in good humour about it? 8y
Lindy @Penny_LiteraryHoarders Yes! He stopped, puzzled, went back a page to double check. Said something like, "oops. That's a mistake I should have caught." 8y
33 likes3 comments
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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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Sitting out in the rain with a glass of Pinot Grigio and The Invitation. I'm getting to the point where I need to keep reading. A bit mysterious!

johnnie_cakes I really can't wait to read this one! 8y
Posemn Perfect reading environment 😉. Anxious to hear what you think of this before I add it to my stack. 8y
Posemn Looks like a perfect reading moment! 😉 Anxious to hear what you think of this one before I add it to my stack, please. 8y
39 likes4 comments
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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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Wondering why the chapters with Hal are entitled "Hal", but for Stella, they are just "Her"? We know the "Her" is Stella, so interested in seeing if this changes as it moves along, and why it's like that...

Lindy And now you've made me curious too. 🤔 Hope you will report further. 8y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders 👍🏻Will do @Lindy! 😆 8y
27 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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This is the second book I've read where the woman is missing two fingers on her hand (the pinky and ring)! The first was from The Long, Hot Summer and now here in The Invitation. What an odd coincidence?!

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Penny_LiteraryHoarders
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Perhaps my second to last "summertime" read before cracking open the Fall Goodies? I just love this cover! Reminds me of Tigers in Red Weather which was a book I LOVED! Going to try a read outside until the (blessed and so needed) rain comes!

Penny_LiteraryHoarders My perhaps last summer read I pulled off the shelf today will be 8y
LitHousewife I love that cover! 8y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders Right @LitHousewife?? I keep staring at it! 8y
33 likes2 stack adds3 comments