The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

In a nutshell… A heart wrenching love story in the 1960s.

Strengths: Page turner, emotional read.

Weaknesses: Very emotional read and the second main character is not as strong.

Why I read it: ebook
download from Net Galley

Pages: 416

Published: 2010/2011 (different for different regions)

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, Penguin Group USA (depending on where you are)

Setting: England, France, Africa

Rating: 9 out of 10

If you like this, try: The Past and Other Lies by Maggie Joel

This book came out in Australia around Christmas time last year. This was the cover we received:

and to be honest, it really didn’t appeal to me. It looked very chick lit and soppy. However, the American cover enticed me more and I had heard good things about this book, so I successfully applied to receive a Net Galley of this book. Boy, I’m so glad that I did. This is a highly emotional love story that keeps you reading well into the night without being over the top. I was really pleased with this book, and highly recommend it to those that like a well written story with detailed characters, drama and plenty of obstacles. I also think that this would make a great movie.

This book opens with Jennifer, the main protagonist, recovering in hospital after a nasty car accident where the driver was killed. Her problem is that she has amnesia of the events prior and must get to know her husband, friends and home all over again. As time goes on, Jennifer starts to feel that something isn’t quite right, but no-one will tell her anything. She then finds letters hidden in her house addressed to her, love letters signed by B. Who is B?

The story then moves back to the time before Jennifer’s accident and how she and B fell in love and planned to leave her dreary suburban life for him. Unfortunately, a number of unfortunate instances occur and things don’t happen as planned…

In the present day, Ellie is a journalist at the same newspaper as B, stuck in a dead end relationship with a novelist. She discovers the love letters as the newspaper plans to move buildings and decides to make it a feature. During this time, she learns from Jennifer the strength of relationships and what it is to really be in love.

I thought Ellie’s character was a little less engaging than Jennifer, but they are products of different times – Ellie seems much looser and flippant in comparison. Ellie is also instrumental in the ending of the book and the third section provides some lighter relief from the tortured relationship of Jennifer and B. This book was excellently written and produced a great feeling of raw emotion, especially when it wasn’t done to do so (1960′s upper middle class London). It’s more than chick lit, it’s a fine, classy story that you shouldn’t pass by. I couldn’t put this book down, not even when wandering about the house!

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

I read Sense and Sensibility as part of the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011. The book (a pretty hardcover version) had been sitting on my shelves for some time, so it was a good opportunity to get onto it! Sense and Sensibility is the only Jane Austen novel I haven’t seen as a movie or series (yes, I know, shameful) so I was relying on Miss Austen herself to tell me all about this book.

I’m sure everyone knows the plot of this book (or can Google it), but in short, it’s the story of two single sisters of marriageable age and their trials and tribulations when it comes to men. There’s the cad, the gentleman (actually, two of them), a trip to London and a nasty illness. The sisters are very different – Elinor is sensible and restrained, while Marianne is passionate and impulsive.

The Austen wit is hard at work in this novel, and I enjoyed being able to chuckle at some of the actions of the characters (especially Marianne’s outbursts). It is finely written and captures the time well. I could picture Barton and the Dashwood’s cottage easily. I found myself on the edge of my seat at Marianne’s illness, wishing for penicillin – Austen captured well the despair that Elinor found herself in.

I did enjoy this book, but I still think Pride and Prejudice is my favourite. Elinor is a little too restrained for my liking, while Marianne is a bit too impetuous.

Read this if: you like your classics with wit and clever social commentary

8 out of 10.

My Last Duchess by Daisy Goodwin

I wanted to like this book. Really. Considering I had ordered it from halfway around the world, I wanted to enjoy it. I saw that Downton Abbey also has a American heiress called Cora; I wanted to enjoy this. But all throughout this book I was wondering, is this it? Where is the suspense, the moment of crisis? Was I missing it? Was it too subtly written? Have I read too many books like this one? This book brought back memories of the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen in the way dresses are lavishly described, the writing is similar and the rich American girl setting. I liked it marginally better than the Luxe series but I don’t think I’ll be going back for more any time soon – it’s confusing whether this is a long book for young adult readers or a light read for older readers.

The plot is straightforward – Cora Cash, rich American heiress has anything money can buy (including gold hummingbirds and digging for gem treasures – and that’s just at parties). However, her mother wants her to be titled. After Cora is caught in a compromising clinch with Teddy (rich, but not titled) and Mrs Cash is disfigured when her electricity dress catches fire, Cora goes to England to find a suitably titled husband in need of her money. After falling off her horse, she is discovered by Ivo, the new Lord of Wareham. She falls in love with him and they get married very early on in the book. The intrigue involves a portrait, a friend who is not all she seems, an increasingly distant husband and a snooty mother-in-law. It’s kind of predictable and the ending is quite rushed, with feelings changing each paragraph. I still wonder if Cora got what she wanted – or even knew what she wanted, after pressures from family and friends.

Some characters were drawn better than others – the Duke remained an enigma to me, dipping in and out of the action frequently. Cora’s mother was determined while Cora was confused for me. Was the naming of the rich heiress – ‘Cash’ deliberate? I think it was a pun this book didn’t need to have. The historical setting is dealt with lightly, we get the gist of the time but none of the politics or defining events.

Yes, it was predictable but perhaps this is a new fashion – historical chick lit. Some have likened this book to those written by Jane Austen or Edith Wharton but I believe that the prose is too simple for that.

Note that this book also goes by the title The American Heiress.

Read this if: you loved the Luxe series or like historical chick-lit.

6.5 out of 10.

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

First of all, I want to tell you that this book was sent to me by the author for review (thank you Rosy). I was pleased to see when I opened the package that Penny Vincenzi, one of my favourite authors, had given her praise for Rosy’s books.

The cover of this book is so lovely and relaxing – the promise of an escape to the French countryside, something I’m sure that all of us have thought of doing at one time or the other (even those of us on the other side of the world). That’s what this book is – relaxing.

The premise is simple – Catherine, divorced mother of two adult children, sells up and leaves England for the mountainous French countryside. What will she do there? Well, she’ll start a little business (tapestry – see the title falling into place?) and enjoy the fruits of her small farm and the local village. It all sounds perfect…but of course it’s not! It rains a lot, French government bureaucracy is neverending (Catherine can’t start a business as she lives in a national park), back in ten minutes means a good couple of hours and her workaholic sister suddenly descends on her peace and quiet, interfering with her blossoming friendship with her neighbour Patrick…

It has all the ingredients of a manic chick lit, but it’s not. It’s a gentle, dignified look at this genre. Full of detailed description about the landscape (I could picture it even though I’ve never visited France) and the delicious food. The supporting characters are well-written, and I was upset when tragedy befell one of them. Catherine’s sister and daughter are both wittily written, particular her daughter’s various jobs!

If I had to pick a downfall of this book, it’s that my French was not good enough to pick up the French dialogue (Australian schools tend to offer more Asian languages these days). However, I’m sure that could easily be solved with Google Translate.

This book is subtle, wonderfully descriptive and relaxing. I’d suggest it while you are lazing in the French countryside.

8 out of 10.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Oh dear. Where to start with this one? I was on holiday, saw this on the Borders clearance pile and lugged it back home. It was lucky I didn’t need to pay excess baggage otherwise I’d be really annoyed. This was the time the movie Dear John was released, I simply assumed that that was the reason it was on sale.

The real reason? This book is a stinker. Boring and preachy.

We are told John is a wayward teen who straightens himself by joining the army (we don’t get to hear much about his rebellious teenage years). Coming home on leave, he rescues Savannah’s bag and they fall in love. Savannah is a good college girl – she goes to church, doesn’t drink, doesn’t swear (even asks others not to swear) and is quite chaste. There’s nothing wrong with that, but Savannah comes across as preachy, something that no real girl could compare to. Maybe that’s because this story is told through John’s lovesick eyes? Anyway, John has to rejoin his unit, so the lovebirds are parted. 9/11 happens (rates about two sentences) and John stays in the army. Then he gets his own ‘Dear John’ letter. He can’t stop thinking about Savannah and eventually goes to find her, with gooey consequences. There’s also a distant father-son relationship thrown in here.

This book was really clichéd to me. It has all the ingredients for a sugary chick flick, but I found it contrived. I’m sorry that John spent all that time pining for Savannah and that his relationship with his father only improved in his later years, but he needed to move on.

The best thing about this book? You can read it really quickly.

I haven’t read The Notebook  but I don’t think I will. 

Read it if: you need a sugary book that you can see the ending from a mile off. 

3 out of 10.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I bought Northanger Abbey as one of the Popular Penguins series. I had seen the television miniseries and thoroughly enjoyed it, with its parody of the Gothic novel.

Catherine, a young lady with not much fortune but an appetite for Gothic novels and a wild imagination, goes to Bath with friends.  There she meets Mr Henry Tilney and falls instantly in love with him. She also meets Isabella, who becomes a close friend. Isabella’s brother, John, falls for Catherine but she finds him odious in comparison with Mr Tilney. Isabella then becomes engaged to Catherine’s brother, but this is broken off when Catherine finds someone with a better fortune. Catherine leaves Bath to stay with the Tilneys at Northanger Abbey, where she romanticises many Gothic elements about her room and the deceased Mrs Tilney. She is then sent home in mistaken disgrace due to malicious gossip from John but everything is soon righted.

I enjoyed this, in particular the parody of the Gothic elements (the mysteriously dead wife and the secrets in the bedroom at Northanger Abbey) and that there were some truly awful characters in Isabella and John. There’s a lot of bite to this novel, it’s not just sweetness, pretty gowns and perfect romances. Austen pokes a lot of fun at her ‘heroine’ (as she often calls Catherine) and at her overdramatic and silly nature. (She is only 17 after all). Henry has a lot of insight into Catherine’s character and is the balance that she desperately needs.

I would have been interested to find out the ultimate fate of John and Isabella – did they get what they deserved?

Read it if: you like your classics with some bite

8 out of 10.