My mom borrowed this novel from a friend of hers, and when I saw the author’s name, I snagged it for myself. I’ve never read anything by Jojo Mayes, but I remember the reviews of her book Me Before You being really good, so I thought I’d try out this one. I really enjoyed The Last Letter from Your Lover, despite the fact that it was wedged a little bit more into the romance genre than I typically read, and I’m going to have to get a copy of Me Before You for sure.
“You know, you can’t make someone love you again. No matter how much you might want it. Sometimes, unfortunately, the timing is simply…off.”
Mayes breaks The Last Letter from Your Lover into three parts. In the first part, Jennifer Stirling wakes up in 1960 after a car accident that has broken her arm and robbed her of her memory. When she returns to a home she doesn’t remember with a husband she doesn’t remember, she tries to put together her life before the accident. She discovers letters from a man with whom she was apparently having an affair. Miserable with her typically macho sixties husband, she seeks out her lover, despite not knowing who he is. The second section takes place a few years later, and I’ll keep my mouth shut because I don’t want to spoil anything. The third section jumps forward to 2003, where journalist Ellie Haworth is herself having an affair with a married man. The distraction of it is slowly destroying her career — until she stumbles across Jennifer’s letters in the basement of her newspaper. She gets involved with a librarian employed by the paper, and seeks out Jennifer to find out how it all ended.
I really liked this one. The characters are well written (although I wish more of Jennifer’s friend Vivian had a larger role — she was great) and it’s sweet without being cheesy. Not everyone gets a happy ending, but it ends nicely enough. I did like the little twist at the end — it genuinely surprised me! Overall, a good read and I hope Mayes other novels prove to be, as well.
