Book Review: Dear Henry, Love Edith

I am writing this review of Dear Henry, Love Edith (Becca Kinzer's debut novel) for the second time, weeks after completing this read. Somehow, I deleted my book review and cannot retrieve it. I will try to give this book its due, but my memory has long since stepped away from this story. My apologies. Here is what I think I wrote:

If asked what my ideal romance would be, it would involve two strangers meeting through letters, developing a correspondence, and finding love. I still have bushels of old letters from friends (pack-rat that I am). While I had a brief taste of this dream, it was not entirely the same. After college, I went on a mission trip to the Philippines. One of the other mission teammates corresponded with me for those ten weeks. We were in similar places. We experienced: a) things we'd never encountered before; b) deep emotional connection to those experiences; c) shared struggles and observations; d) and genuine vulnerability with each other. It was impossible for romantic feelings to remain at bay, although I was determined we would not act on those feelings during the mission trip. For a brief time, afterwards, we connected, but he was not as interested in me as I was in him, and I realize that the intensity of our letters made me think there were connections that were not there. All of that to say, the premise of this book (two strangers meeting through letters and falling in love) seems earmarked for me!

After his niece's pipe bursts, Henry agrees to take on her temporary boarder. He believes she is a little old lady. Edith is visiting the small Illinois town to fill a position in a crisis nursery until arrangements for her mission trip fall into place. She believes she is living in the upstairs portion of an elderly man's house while he recuperates from a fall. He works days and she, nights; thus, they keep failing to meet the other and a correspondence between the two develops. Their assumptions lead them to share more deeply than they otherwise might. (However, don't expect a great deal of intimacy in the letters, because most of the love story plays out apart from the correspondence.)

While the humor sometimes verges on slapstick, this is a fun, delightful book. It would be perfect if you need something lighthearted amid personal pain. The plot draws the reader along with questions like: What will dispel their assumptions? Is love inevitable? Can they find a way to one another, despite divergent paths and past relational difficulties? I would happily dip into books by Becca Kinzer again. You can visit her author website and sign up for her newsletter to receive two short romance stories.

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9/13/24 Note: Dear Henry, Love Edith won a Carol Award for debut novel in the 2024 ACFW's best Christian fiction recognition. Yay, for Becca Kinzer!