Love Lettering, by Kate Clayborn, is a love story. Not just of the protagonists, Meg and Reid, but a love story between a woman and New York City, Meg and her best friend Sibby.
Meg is an artist. I’m not sure exactly what to call her- calligrapher? Graphic artist? I’ve read the entire book and I am still not sure- but she is high in demand within New York City to hand-write out rich people’s planners. These jobs allow her to live in New York City, so either she has a crazy amount of clients needing monthly planners written/drawn out or she charges a ton per month. She had previously done work for weddings, but stopped after she met a couple that she thought was doomed to fail- and included a hidden message in their wedding programs with her prediction. A year later, Reid shows up in her shop looking for an explanation as to why she put a hidden message in his wedding program. From that encounter, an unlikely partnership emerges. Meg convinces Reid to accompany her through her city walks- her goal is to find inspiration for her work and his is to find something (anything) to like about New York.
This was a sweet book, but not having any knowledge of fonts I had to look up most of what she described. This book was charming and I’d recommend it to someone looking for a quick and light read.
This is the book club book for my local library (i.e. available to everyone without a hold) so I have it out right now!
I really enjoyed this one. I don’t usually form clear images in my head while I’m reading, but I did with Love lettering. I would live to see it turned into a graphic novel.
Graphic novel is a perfect pairing for it. I was bored witless with the endless descriptions of fonts. I ended up DNFing it, first time for a Clayborn.