19 January 2015

Review: The Letter by Kathryn Hughes



Overview: The book is based on two young women, Chrissie and Tina, who live decades apart (the former in World War 2 and the other in the 1970s). Although both troubled in their own ways, their lives appear to be completely unconnected until Tina finds a letter in the pocket of an old suit jacket. This letter is the key piece in a complex puzzle that eventually intertwines the lives of the two women forever. The underpinning themes are illegitimate pregnancy, domestic abuse and the 'butterfly effect'. 

My thoughts: The story is fast paced - the writer generally spares the readers any unnecessary details and has a habit of jumping days, weeks or even months ahead in time from one paragraph to the next. I liked the plot, the twists and turns of the story but the ending was fairly predictable around halfway though the book, a satisfying ending but predictable nonetheless. 

Most of the characters in the book were pretty well developed, to the point where I hated some of them (ahem, Tina) and felt sorry for others. For me, it is a sign of a good author if he or she can write about a fictional person in such a way that it evokes any sort of strong emotional response from the reader towards that character. 

There were a few grammatical errors - a real pet peeve of mine when I see them in a published book. Apart from that the author's writing style was quite simple and enjoyable to read. 

Rating: 3.5/5 - Interesting plot, it'd make a great film!

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