Review: Letters from Skye, Jessica Brockmole

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in return for an honest review*

March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence—sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets—their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn’t understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

Jessica Brockmole spent several years living in Scotland, where she knew too well the challenges in maintainingrelationshipsfrom a distance. She plotted her first novel on a long drive from the Isle of Skye to Edinburgh. She now lives in Indiana with her husband and two children.

I am always a bit scared to pick up "letter" books. I know some very good ones but there are also a few I did not like at all. It depends on the choices the author makes while writing it. Letters from Skye is one of the good ones.
The letters feel more like a dialogue and follow up in a perfect tone. What I did miss thoug where the significant differences in personality. There where differences between the writers but they where not really huge. On the other hand this might have been the reason I did enjoy this letter book.
I did not really like Elspeth, I feel she was never honest not to herself or David. This made it difficult for me to connect with her. I liked David, he was aware of the mistakes he made and how wrong things where. I feel that in the end he suffered more than Elspeth did. It was nicely done how Margaret and her Paul communicated in the way David and Elspeth did and that it turned Elspeth away. I think it was a good choice to add them to the story to fill up some of the gaps.

Letters From Skye
Author: Jessica Brockmole
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 304
Format: eGalley
ISBN-10: 0345542606
ISBN-13:9780345542601
Ballantine Books: eBook | Hardcover | audioBook

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