When We Chased the Light is a historical novel. At the center of the book is Vivian Snow, an old time Hollywood star. There is an auction of her belongings, including some mysterious, hand-drawn postcards sent by her best friend over the years. Her great-granddaughter is at the auction and wants to find answers about Vivian's life.

I wanted to read this novel because I love historical fiction. The old Hollywood aspect of the story was very appealing to me. I work with vintage ephemera, so the postcards at the center of the story interested me as well.

This is an engrossing book that spans time from 1943, when Vivian is a USO showgirl, into her Hollywood career and beyond. The period details in the book are very well done. I found the storytelling engaging (even when Vivian was not always sympathetic!) and enjoyed this read. I did not read the previous book in this series, but had no problem enjoying this novel as a standalone read.

I recommend When We Chased the Light for historical fiction readers, and especially for anyone who has an interest in old time Hollywood.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this eCopy to review

I recently finished reading When We Chased the Light by Emily Bleeker, and it was a truly captivating experience! This novel beautifully blends historical fiction with a deep emotional narrative, making it a compelling read from start to finish.

The story revolves around Vivian Snow, a Hollywood icon whose life is revealed through a series of postcards sent by Antonio Trombello, a former Italian POW and priest. These postcards, spanning six decades, offer a glimpse into Vivian’s private world, filled with secrets, love, and the struggles of fame. I was particularly drawn to the way Bleeker portrayed Vivian’s rise from a USO showgirl during World War II to a celebrated starlet, all while dealing with personal tragedies and the pressures of Hollywood.

The relationship between Vivian and Antonio was both intriguing and heart-wrenching. Their bond, filled with unspoken love and deep understanding, added a layer of complexity to the narrative. The mystery surrounding Vivian’s husband’s disappearance and the subsequent events kept me hooked, eager to uncover the truth alongside her.

Bleeker’s writing is vivid and evocative, bringing to life the glamour and grit of Hollywood’s golden age. The characters are well-developed, and their emotional journeys are portrayed with sensitivity and depth. However, there were moments when the pacing felt a bit slow.

Overall, When We Chased the Light is a beautifully written, emotionally charged novel that I would highly recommend to fans of historical fiction and character-driven stories. It’s a poignant exploration of love, loss, and the enduring power of secrets.

Thank you Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the latest from Emily Bleeker, When We Chased the Light.

I’ve read several of Emily’s books and have found them all to have some commonalities. For one thing, they usually feature a strong female lead character. No exception here. Vivian Snow, through all her failings as a daughter, sibling, wife and mother was a very strong person. In an industry where females were little more than a dress size (actress late 50’s forward), she pushed, prodded and cajoled to achieve her goals.

A love story gone wrong or never really right. Vivian’s many terrible choices in men and her enduring feelings for a priest. He was everything except her lover, which was widely assumed.

All the triggers. I hate that word, however all the trauma that could befall a person seemed to fall on Vivian’s head during her
lifetime - murder, domestic abuse, mental illness etc. It made for an interesting peek around every corner looking for the other shoe.

A look at old Hollywood, Broadway and USO shows created a colorful canvas for Vivian’s life. Maybe a bit too long, but a good read.

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
I enjoyed this book. It is the story of Hollywood icon Vivian Snow told over 60 years. The author told the story in a unique way. She used a present-day Christie's auction of a series of postcards to move the story along. The postcards were written by Antonio Tombrello, who is a Priest.. Vivian first met him at a POW camp when she is in her twenties. The postcards contain messages as well as little drawings done by Antonio. Through these postcards, Vivian and Antonio developed a deep friendship, maybe even fell in love. This book made me want to read other books by this author. It is very well-written with lots of facts about history and Old Hollywood. I highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was gripping from early on and even though it was in a "historical" setting, I still related well to the characters and the conversation.

When We Chased the Light is a prequel of sorts to When We Were Enemies and centers around the characters, Vivian Snow and her dear friend Trombello.

Told in the POV of Vivian, it follows her life right after the death of her first husband, Tom. If you read When We Were Enemies first you will know the circumstances around Tom's death and the deep connection between Vivian and Trombello.

This is an emotional novel about fame, family and love and sacrifices one makes for fame and financial security. Bleeker does a solid job on hooking the reader to find out if there is a happy ending for Vivian and Trombello. I found myself invested in the characters, especially Vivian and her daughter Grace. I appreciated how Vivian self-reflected how her own choices affected the future generations of her family.

When We Chased the Light can be standalone novel, but I would recommend reading them both together. I really enjoyed how Bleeker fleshed out Vivian's life. If you enjoy family saga historical fiction, this one is for you.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The overall premise gives Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes, which is one of my all-time favorite books! Ever since I read it two years ago I have been searching for other books that give these vibes, and this was a close one!

This is not a typical romance and it would be more apt to describe this as a story that brings us on a journey as Vivian Snow transforms herself from a single mom struggling to make ends meet while performing to becoming a famous and Oscar-worthy Hollywood actress.

There are lots of painful moments in this book and Vivian goes through cycles of bad relationships. Through it all, she relies on her close friend and confidant Antonio, who is also a priest.

The story is linked over the years through the postcards which Antonio sends to her regularly with words of advice, support and kind thoughts. There is a lot of focus on mental health issues here and other heavier topics as well, so if that is a concern, do tread with care.

I would consider this a companion novel to When We Were Enemies, both can be read as a stand-alone, but the full picture comes together when read together. The gaps I found in the first book are completely answered. This book follows Vivian Snow on her rise to fame from USO performer to Hollywood icon. The choices she made, the heartbreak and the guilt, the loves and losses. There are many trigger warnings…verbal and physical abuse, mental illness, loss and grief. This family drama is true to the thinking of the 1940s. I enjoyed all the characters. The writing kept me turning the page and interested in finding the outcome. I enjoyed the addition of the postcards, it really showed the special friendship between Antonio and Vivian through the years. The ending was perfect for the storyline.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

We start with an auction of small hand painted postcards addressed to Vivian Snow by Antonio Trombello, a friend, a priest and mentor of the star. This is the timeline for the story that followed, each card highlighting an event in Vivian’s life.

The story goes retrospective from there outlining Vivian’s aka Viviana’s life from the time she married disastrously at seventeen, her future which spiraled from small town show girl to her other marriage, also districts, her lovers en route and how she in her own way tried very hard to protect and provide for her parents, her sister and her daughter, who sometimes could not see through the stardom and did not appreciate her sacrifices made.

Vivian’s story was sad, she was ridden with guilt over the death of her husband which she could not get rid of, her unrequited love for the priest who remained a friend and advisor till his end, and the daughter who turned against her which added to the sadness running through the story.

Very well told, quite an emotional story but nevertheless fascinating.

A compelling story about secrets and fame, Hollywood and family, and the kind of forgiveness possible only through unconditional acceptance. Mesmerizing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing/Amazon Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the new historical fiction book by Emily Bleeker. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

In the present, Christie's Auction House is preparing to sell the belongings of Hollywood star Vivian Snow. Her great-granddaughter is there, wanting a collection of postcards sent to Vivian over 60 years by her best friend, Antonio Trombello, an Italian solder, POW, and Catholic priest. Vivian met Antonio when singing at the local USO club and met her first husband, Tom Highward, there as well. When Tom goes missing, and Vivian is pregnant, she has to support her family by traveling and entertaining the troops. Her life gets complicated through a series of romances and personal issues.

The book before this one, When We Were Enemies, goes in depth to Vivian's backstory of meeting Tom and Antonio, and this book explores all that happens next. While it could be read as a standalone, since enough backstory is provided, it's such an interesting book that I would recommend reading it first. This book explores a lot of themes - abuse, addiction, mental illness, motherhood, guilt, the price of fame - but it's told in a way that never becomes depressing. We see the toll life has taken on Vivian and the results of her decisions passed on to the next generations. I liked the auction notes in between the chapters to see the progression of Vivian and Antonio's friendship through the years, and the epilogue tied everything up perfectly.


embroiled in romances and scandals and while juggling motherhood and paying the bills for her mother, father and younger sister Aria.

I received a copy of When We Chased the Light from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review and author Emily Bleeker and I feel she's achieved what she set out to do in her second book, and that's fuse Vivian's life all together and create a page turning narrative. A historical saga about fame and fortune, being ambitious and how it influenced Vivian's choices, image and having to stay beautiful, motherhood and guilt, mystery and secrets, unconventional friendship and relationships and the reason behind those hand-drawn postcards which are featured at the beginning of each chapter of the novel and listed as lot numbers at the auction.

Five stars from me, I highly recommend When We Chased the Light and Ms. Bleeker’s first book When We Were Enemies and it would be a great idea to read one after the other and the narrative will be less confusing and perfectly entwined and despite being classed as standalone novels.

Lots of heavy topics, but they're discussed with grace and tell a wonderfully detailed story. I did not realize this was the second book, though it is written to be a standalone. I love anything with old Hollywood and found this to meet my craving.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for access to this title. All opinions are my own.

Although it isn't listed officially as such on Goodreads, this is the continuation of Vivian Snow's story which had begun in When We Were Enemies. Telling the remainder of Vivian's time with the USO show and her post-war Hollywood stardom, the chapters are dotted with the postcards sent from Father Trombello. The story covers a wide variety of topics and future readers should be warned of topics such as mental illness, domestic violence and loss of a child.

I gave When We Were Enemies a 3-star rating, but for the first 40 percent of this book, I thought I would toss it in the DNF pile. The characters that I felt a connection with in Book 1 had lost their spark a little and I rushed my reading a little bit. That's disappointing because I do like to "get lost in a book" for a few hours after an exhaustive work day.

In the end, I felt myself chasing the darkness




#WhenWeChasedtheLight #NetGalley.
Publication Date 22/10/24
Goodreads Review 23/10/24

This is actually what I would consider a follow up to Emily Bleeker’s previous novel, When We Were Enemies. Reading this story will give you the complete story. Enjoyable and well written!

When We Chased the Light by Emily Bleeker was a great historical fiction.
A fascinating story that completely captured my attention.
This book pulled me in from the start snd kept me engaged until the end. The characters are complex and the plot is riveting. The historical aspect of the tale was intriguing and I found it fascinating.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

An auction house is set to sell postcards of the famous Hollywood star Vivian Snow. They are all from Antonio Trombello, a constant confidant of hers for over 60 years. They begin in WW2 when Vivian's husband is listed as AWOL, disappears and is eventually deemed dead. Vivian leans on Father Trombello during this time as she shares her deepest secrets with him. Over the years, the story is related of Vivian's success and struggles both personally and professionally.

I was really looking forward to reading this book as I have really gotten into the historical fiction books lately. But I felt like the story just didn't go much of anywhere. And I didn't understand the importance of the postcards. They did not seem to provide any value of the story for me, but just as a break to move to a new scene. Also, I struggled to make any connections with the characters - they were just there. Additionally, it was kind of confusing that it took so long to figure out more about her first husband and what happened there.

I also read quite a few reviews on Goodreads that this is a continuation from another book. If I would have known that, I am not sure that I would have read this book right away. But it does make sense as I felt at many points in time while reading that I was missing some key things. Reading the first book before this would have likely resulted in a better reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Emily Bleeker for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Compelling Companion. This book is more "companion" novel to Bleeker's 2023 novel When We Were Enemies than "sequel", in that only the prologue and epilogue feature the more modern timeline from the earlier book. The rest of this story is, well, the rest of the historical story found in pieces in the earlier book as our lead character there tries to piece together her family's past.

Bleeker does a remarkable job of continuing the story of survival she began in When We Were Enemies and continuing through WWII and the ensuing decades. And just when you think survival is all you get - and with some interesting foreshadowing bringing another well known tale into the narrative in a perfectly timed (both narrative wise and timeline wise) point - ... Bleeker manages to bring heavy amounts of dust into the room and absolutely *shatter* you, the reader. But this is done in almost literally the last pages and even words of this tale, so those who give up short of the finish line won't get to the best part of the tale overall... much like those who give up short of the goal line in most other things, come to think of it. :)

I've literally read everything Bleeker has written, from her powerful debut through this one, and this is easily near the top of her stack in ambition and overall storytelling. Bleeker has had others that may hit even harder (her 2015 debut, WRECKAGE), but this one shows a remarkable growth as a storyteller overall, able to write this in just a few months and make it flow so well with both its predecessor and within the times and worlds in which it inhabits in our "real" world.

Overall a truly excellent book, and very much recommended.

This is actually the "rest of the story" to When We Were Enemies, which I didn’t know when I read it. I don’t think it detracted from the “enjoyment” of this book, although it may have been helpful to have read them both to get the whole picture. I say “enjoyment” hesitantly because of the issues that are dealt with.
This is a historical saga about fame, fortune and genuine friendship. I didn’t find it very easy to get into at first, but there was a turning point after which I became invested in reading to the very end, changing my mind about the characters I liked at different points. The main characters are Vivien Snow, an entertainer and her best friend Antonio Trombello a catholic priest, soldier and POW. The plot, whilst encompassing some serious issues and difficult life decisions, revolves around a collection of postcards sent by Antonio to Vivien over six decades.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC.

Hollywood legend, Vivian Snow, led a fascinating life. The story begins when her young husband is killed and she forms an unbreakable bond and friendship with Anthony Trombello who becomes her protector. Father Trombello sends her postcards through their lifetime apart keeping the connection very much alive.

The story is intertwined with the postcard text (they are being auctioned off as part of Miss Snow's estate).

Vivian's family goes through many changes from death of the patriarch to births, moves and marriages. This was a fascinating story to read as the author weaves so many events together, I highly recommend this engaging story to everyone. It was a great story that sucked me in and made me feel like part of the family, or at least as a fan of Miss Snow.

Definitely one of the best novels I have read for awhile.

I was given this book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.