This is a Virginia novelist’s debut tale, all composed of letters composed between friends, family members, strangers and even famous writers over the period between 2012 and early 2022, some of them never sent. The central character is an adopted married and later divorced American law clerk with a troubled past and two living children, one deceased one and one of the living ones is estranged from her. Interpersonal conflicts abound.
The quest for her past leads to an analysis of her DNA with far-reaching consequences, as she connects to her birth mother’s other child. It is vital for the reader to pay close attention to the dates, senders, and recipients of various emails and letters of the characters to keep them straight.
There is a lot of nostalgia and self-flagellation on the part of the main character particularly as she takes undeserved blame for her son’s sudden death, her divorce, and various other sundry other events in her life.
I found nothing very unrealistic in this tale, but the nostalgia and self-examination seemed to me to be a bit overdone. I suspect this novel will be more appreciated by women than by men. But it also gave me many suggestions of books that I have not yet read.
4/5
Thanks, Michelle and Vera.
The Passionate Reader 