Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole


“You and I are lucky.  We never had to worry about the first part, the visual sizing up.  We got to go directly to the interesting bit.  The getting to know the depths and breadths of each other’s soul.”

 

Sigh…this book…this freaking book…I don’t know if I can concisely talk about how much I LOVE this book.  First it is an epistolary novel, my all time favorite.  I think it stems from an early love of receiving mail and I am not going to lie, I still do.  Second, the time periods, WWI and WWII, there is just something about love during war time, it wrenches your heart that much more.  The story is set in the highlands of Scotland…I don’t think I need to say any more about that.  (If you’re not convinced that this is the *perfect* setting for a love story, check out this: http://www.isleofskye.com/)

 

I could go on and on…just read it…and if you’re not convinced see the reviews from, ya know,  “the professionals.”

 

Book Description via Amazon

Release date: July 9, 2013

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.

Sparkling with charm and full of captivating period detail, Letters from Skye is a testament to the power of love to overcome great adversity, and marks Jessica Brockmole as a stunning new literary voice.

Praise for Letters from Skye

“A love story to the power of the written word.”—USA Today

“[A] remarkable story of two women, their loves, their secrets, and two world wars . . . [in which] the beauty of Scotland, the tragedy of war, the longings of the heart, and the struggles of a family torn apart by disloyalty are brilliantly drawn, leaving just enough blanks to be filled by the reader’s imagination.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“By turns lyrical and flirtatious, Brockmole’s debut charms with its wistful evocation of a time when handwritten, eagerly awaited letters could bespell besotted lovers.”Kirkus Reviews

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