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Location: Vero Beach, Florida, United States

My name is Pat and I live in Florida. My skin will never be smooth again and my hair will never see color. I enjoy collecting autographs and playing in Paint Shop Pro.,along with reading and writing. Sometimes, I enjoy myself by doing volunteer "work" helping celebrities at autograph shows. I love animals and at one time I did volunteer work for Tippi Hedren's Shambala Preserve.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Letters from Skye


Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole.

Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 28, 2014)
ASIN: B00N4EKOXC  (287 pgs)

Review:
A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.
March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.
June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.
Thank you Cath.  (my "sis" from across the pond)
Cath read and wrote a review of Letters from Skye and when I said it sounded like I might like it she agreed.... and so I found a used copy.
I sat down and read the first 30 pages and emailed Cath.. "30 pages in and I love it".
Later that evening I finished the entire book!   That is a first for me!  I have never read a whole book in one day! (ok, so maybe if you count comic books!)
I am not a person to read "love stories".  But I think when they come into my reading, in this case the format of letters intrigued me, that they are such a refreshing change that I like them. 
This one began innocently as a fan writes an author about liking her book. (hmmm, I've done that and now friends with Michael Scott of Ireland who wrote the Secrets of Nicholas Flamel series of books!..but he's way to young for me LOL)  Anyway..  A friendship blossoms and then slowly you learn of both of their lives.  Then comes WWI and their lives change.  I don't want to say much even though the above review does.
I found this book captivating from the first "letter" and now, like Cath, I would love to see the Isle of Skye!
Great book.  Fast read.  A book just to make you feel good!

2 Comments:

Blogger OldLady Of The Hills said...

Didn't I say something about this form in my last comment? I was thinking of Betsy Hailey's book---"A WOMAN OF INDEPENDENT MEANS" (Elizabeth Forsyth Hailey) which is written in the form of letters over a woman's lifetime.....It's an old book---it came out in the 1970's, but a very good story and I LOVED the format. This sounds quite wonderful, too!

1:50 AM  
Blogger Cath said...

I'm so pleased you loved this *so* much, Pat. I find books written in letter form (I forget the proper tern 'epi' something, lol) so nice and easy to read. Almost comfort reading. But this was especially good. Like the Guernsey Literary Pie one.

5:12 AM  

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