Book Review: The Letter

The premise of this book, The Letter, hooked me instantly. I love books about letters. What could be better than finding someone else's letter and tracking down the details to discover the identities of the sender and recipient and the meaning of the words? The tag line was an effective hook as well: "In one woman's past lies another woman's future..." How would the letter from the past alter the life of a woman in the future? Moreover, the book held four pages worth of accolades from blog and Amazon reviewers. It is billed as a "Number One E-book Bestseller." All of this boded well for a riveting read.

Tina Craig volunteers at a charity shop to fill even more hours of her week away from her miserable home life with her violently alcoholic husband. One day, while sorting donated clothes, she comes across a letter in a sealed envelope. Despite bearing an address and a stamp, the letter remains undelivered and unread. Tina's curiosity compels her to open the envelope, never knowing how much this missive will change her life. The letter, dated at the outset of World War II, bears an apology and a proposal from Billy Sterling to Chrissy Skinner. How did the letter come to be in a suit-coat pocket? Why was it never sent? Did Chrissy ever know Billy's true feelings?

Although I enjoyed the book, and toward the end did find that I couldn't put it down, I didn't quite share the level of enthusiasm of the many quoted reviewers who claimed goosebumps, buckets of tears, and broken hearts. It was certainly a good story, just not as powerful as I had expected, given the countless raving reviews. Others said, "Best book I've read in a long time," "I feel like I'm a better person for reading it," "one of the finest stories I have ever read," and "I read a lot of books but it has been some time since I read a book as good as this."

For me, it lacked depth and seemed a bit predictable. The final love story didn't radiate with passion as I had expected. The two characters were simply thrown together on a quest, with no underlying tension or romantic gestures to speak of. I don't mean to imply that the book doesn't merit praise - it is a fine execution of a debut novel and I can see why the self-published e-book spread by word of mouth - but I would have given the book four stars if I had reviewed it on Amazon. Great premise. Great potential. Above average execution. Certainly Kathryn Hughes holds promise. She has written a second book, The Secret, with an equally compelling tag line: "The truth she locked away will set another woman free." Moreover, Hachette UK bought book and film rights to The Letter, so we will see if it is ever made into a movie.