The Last Letter from your Lover is not typically a book I would pick up; at first glance it seemed a bit too “romance” versus just “chick lit” but badkittyuno borrowed it from our mother, who borrowed it from a friend so it was harmless to give it a try. Considering I ignored my husband throughout Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon for the last two night I think I liked it.
Written in three parts, Last Letter tells the story of Jennifer Stiriling and Anthony O’hare.
Part One has Jenny waking up in 1960 unaware of who she is after a traumatic car crash. She begins to piece together bits of her life prior to the accident, particularly that she was having an affair with a man who signs his letters “B.” The section ends with a bit of a cliffhanger…
Part Two takes place four years later and fills in the blanks on what happened following the reveal at the end of Part One.
Part Three jumps to 2003 and changes narration to Ellie Haworth who is a journalist having an affair of her own (in her case she is the mistress of a married man) that stumbles upon a few of Anthony and Jennifer’s letters. She begins to investigate the two for a feature in her paper but also because she feels a connection to their story.
“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.”
I will say I saw the final twist about 10 pages before Ellie does and felt very clever. The ending felt as grounded in reality as a book about 40 years of love letters and missed connections could without disappointing the romantic in everyone.
All in all I liked this one more than I thought I would. I’m interested to see what else Jojo Moyes has to offer.
