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Bettie's Reviews > Letters from Skye
Letters from Skye
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Bettie's review
bookshelves: debut, period-piece, epistolatory-diary-blog, e-book, net-galley, britain-scotland, north-americas, shortstory-shortstories-novellas, next, chick-lit
Sep 09, 2013
bookshelves: debut, period-piece, epistolatory-diary-blog, e-book, net-galley, britain-scotland, north-americas, shortstory-shortstories-novellas, next, chick-lit
From Random House UK, Cornerstone, Hutchinson; many thanks. This ebook has 187 pages.
Dedication: My breath
my light
the one my heart flies toward.
Jim.
From the front of the book: Played out across oceans in peacetime and wartime but most of all in paper and ink, Letters from Skye is about the transformative power of a letter - the letter that shouldn't have been sent, the letter that is never sent and the letter the reader will keep forever.
After a wartime bomb in Edinburgh, and Elspeth's nextday disappearence, daughter Margaret starts an inquiry into her mother's past life - her 'first edition'.
All occurences were sign-posted well in advance, which made for a boring read; even the ending was tied up in little valentine-red bows. Some of the letters are as short as an sms and, as such, are anachronistic. Maybe having those entries couched in as telegrams would have made the overall import more authentic.
The epistolatory novel seems to provide a rich seam for novelists after the success of the real-life communications between Helene Hanff and Frank Doel of 84, Charing Cross Road fame. One just has to peruse the statistics of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to see that this is a popular trope. This will be an adorable read for many readers and it is my loss that I didn't like it more.
Crossposted: Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, Anobii, Netgalley, Librarything
Dedication: My breath
my light
the one my heart flies toward.
Jim.
From the front of the book: Played out across oceans in peacetime and wartime but most of all in paper and ink, Letters from Skye is about the transformative power of a letter - the letter that shouldn't have been sent, the letter that is never sent and the letter the reader will keep forever.
After a wartime bomb in Edinburgh, and Elspeth's nextday disappearence, daughter Margaret starts an inquiry into her mother's past life - her 'first edition'.
All occurences were sign-posted well in advance, which made for a boring read; even the ending was tied up in little valentine-red bows. Some of the letters are as short as an sms and, as such, are anachronistic. Maybe having those entries couched in as telegrams would have made the overall import more authentic.
The epistolatory novel seems to provide a rich seam for novelists after the success of the real-life communications between Helene Hanff and Frank Doel of 84, Charing Cross Road fame. One just has to peruse the statistics of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to see that this is a popular trope. This will be an adorable read for many readers and it is my loss that I didn't like it more.
Crossposted: Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, Anobii, Netgalley, Librarything
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September 9, 2013
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September 9, 2013
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by
Melki
(new)
Sep 09, 2013 07:11AM
Too bad the book doesn't ring like that lovely dedication.
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Oh, I am sorry you did not enjoy this one. Was the storyline bad or missing?
I didn't care for it that much either. A copy just showed up, or I probably never would have read it.
Wanda wrote: "Oh, I am sorry you did not enjoy this one. Was the storyline bad or missing?"It was a slushy something of nothing. It didn't make me think of any underlying truths, which is mainly what I read for - some thought provoking issues that I can get my teeth into is what I look for.
Reviews are for readers, so they must be truthful, musn't they.
Nancy wrote: "I didn't care for it that much either. A copy just showed up, or I probably never would have read it."
I was amazed. It was like them old Butterick dress patterns, she took a sleeve from Byatt's Posession, the front from Schaffer, and the back from Hanff. Then added a dart or two of her own.
zzzzzzzzzzz
<"Reviews are for readers, so they must be truthful, musn't they.">Spot on, Bettie! I agree!
