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Letters from Skye: A Novel by Jessica…
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Letters from Skye: A Novel (edition 2013)

by Jessica Brockmole

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8057827,150 (3.78)117
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole??s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.
 
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.
 
Sparkling with charm and full of captivating period detail, Letters from Skye is a testament to the power of love to overcome great adversity, and marks Jessica Brockmole as a stunning new literary voice.
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader??s Circle for author chats and more.
Praise for Letters from Skye
??Letters from Skye is a captivating love story that celebrates the power of hope to triumph over time and circumstance.???Vanessa Diffenbaugh, New York Times bestselling author of The Language of Flowers
??[A] remarkable story of two women, their loves, their secrets, and two world wars . . . [in which] the beauty of Scotland, the tragedy of war, the longings of the heart, and the struggles of a family torn apart by disloyalty are brilliantly drawn, leaving just enough blanks to be filled by the reader??s imagination.???Publishers Weekly (starred review)
??Tantalizing . . . sure to please readers who enjoyed other epistolary novels like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.???Stratford Gazette
 
??An absorbing and rewarding saga of loss and discovery.???Kate Alcott, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker
 
??A sweeping and sweet (but not saccharine) love story.???USA Today
 … (more)
Member:MD2010
Title:Letters from Skye: A Novel
Authors:Jessica Brockmole
Info:Ballantine Books (2013), Hardcover, 304 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:None

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Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

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» See also 117 mentions

English (75)  Italian (1)  Spanish (1)  Finnish (1)  German (1)  All languages (79)
Showing 1-5 of 75 (next | show all)
A lovely story told through correspondence. ( )
  DanelleVt | Jan 1, 2024 |
SWEDISH REVIEW

Breven från ön charmade mig från början med sin ovanliga uppbyggnad. Handlingen är helt konstruerad genom brev skickade mellan karaktärerna i boken. Just brevformen fick boken att kännas annorlunda och gav vad som skulle kunna vara en vanlig romantisk berättelse en känsla av något nytt. Men brevformatet är även en nackdel då beskrivningar och djupare inblick i karaktärerna saknas.

Allt börjar med ett brev, ett beundrarbrev från David till Espeth och jag fann inledningen nog det bästa med boken, när de lärde känna varandra och mer och mer blev mer familjära med varandra. Sedan börjar deras känslor för varandra växa allt mer och här börjar jag känna att berättelsen tappar lite fart, det blir lite för känslosamt och trånade och breven blev en aning tråkigare att läsa. Jag störde mig även på Espeth's bror som lade sig i lite för mycket i hennes liv.

Mitt i allt detta så har vi Margaret som försöker luska ut var henne mor är och som finner ett av Davids brev. Jag fann hennes sökande efter svar en drivande kraft genom boken men hennes egen kärlekshistoria kunde jag ha levt utan. Om hennes mors relation med David var en aning för känslosam så känns Margarets brevväxling med Paul torftig.

Men trots att Breven från ön inte helt övertygade mig så tycker jag att boken var värd att läsa och jag gillade verkligen att boken är uppbyggd på brev, men boken hade varit ännu bättre om jag hade kunnat knyta an mer till karaktärerna och utan det för att vara ärlig lite för välplacerade slutet!

Tack till Bazar Förlag för recensionexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

Letters from Skye charmed me from the beginning with its unusual construction. The plot is completely constructed by letters sent between the characters in the book. The book is completely constructed by letters sent between the characters in the book. This form feels different and gives what could be an ordinary romantic story a sense of something new. However, the letter format is also a disadvantage because I feel that the deeper descriptions and insight into the characters are missing.

Everything starts with a letter, a fan letter from David to Espeth and I found the introduction probably the best part of the book, when they got to know each other more and more became more familiar with each other. Then, their feelings for each other grow more and it's here I begin to feel that the story loses some momentum, it gets a little too emotional and I found the letters were a little boring to read. And, the whole affair, l I was not charmed and I was a bit annoyed with Espeth's brother who acted like he was the one that decided over Espeth's life.

Amidst all this, we have Margaret who tries to find out where her mother is, and who finds one of David's letter. I found her search for answers a driving force through the book, but her own love story, I could have lived without. If her mother's relationship with David was a little too emotional is Margaret's correspondence with Paul uninteresting.

But, despite that Letters from Skye did not completely entranced me, did I think that the book was worth reading and I really liked that the book is based on the letter, but I feel that the book would have been even better if I had been able to connect with more characters and without, to be honest, the well-placed ending!

Thanks to Bazar Förlag for the review copy! ( )
  MaraBlaise | Jul 23, 2022 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
I won this from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program way back in April 2013, but never received a copy from the publisher (Ballantine). It still appeared on my Not Reviewed list (I've been an Early Reviewer since November 2007), so I checked to see if any of my libraries had a copy - and my small local public library did have it in print.

Letters from Skye, as the name implies, is an epistolary novel, a story told almost entirely in letters, in this case written by five main correspondents in two time periods.

In 1912, Elspeth Dunn, a Scottish poet who lives on the Isle of Skye, gets a fan letter from David Graham of Illinois. They begin corresponding regularly, through David's last year of college, and his time volunteering as an ambulance driver in France during the first World War. Slowly but surely, they fall in love.

In June 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Elspeth's daughter Margaret is writing to her English pilot friend Paul (with whom she's falling in love) as well as her mother, bringing back memories for the latter. After a bomb blast at their home, which uncovers the letters from David that Elspeth hid many years before, Elspeth disappears, and Margaret ultimately writes to Elspeth's brother Finlay in an effort to find her.

To write much more in this review would spoil the story. Suffice to say that chapters alternate between the 1912-1919 time period (Elspeth and David), and 1940 (Margaret, Paul, Finlay, and a few others), and it's a romance. The plot was a bit predictable, but the letters were heartfelt. I would have liked to see the inclusion of more of Elspeth's poems and David's fairy tales (referred to in the letters). ( )
1 vote riofriotex | May 29, 2022 |
This epistolary novel covers two generations. In 1914 Elspeth, a published poet who has never left the island of Skye in the Hebrides begins correspondence with Davey, a college student and University of Illinois. About half of the book is the letters exchanged between them from that time until the midst of WWI when Davey joined the Volunteer Ambulance Service in France.
The remainder of the book are letters written by Margaret, Elspeth's daughter, who is 23 at the beginning of WWII. Margaret knows nothing of her mother's past or the identity of her father. When a bomb hits their flat in Edinburgh, a trove of letters from Elspeth's past are unleashed from hiding. Elspeth disappears after the bombing and Margaret sets out to solve the mystery of the letters and the disappearance of her mother.
There are two romances in this story, though Elspeth's dominates and Margaret's is secondary. Some of the scenarios are a bit unlikely, but are necessary vehicles for the story. ( )
  tangledthread | Oct 23, 2021 |
This was a quick enjoyable read written entirely in the format of correspondence between the various characters. Through this device the author manages to depict a strong sense of time and place of both world wars and the impact on those who fought and those waiting at home. ( )
  HelenBaker | Jun 19, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 75 (next | show all)
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Newlands, ElleNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Dear Madam,
I hope you won't think me forward, but I wanted to write to express my admiration for your book, From an Eagle's Aerie.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole??s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.
 
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.
 
Sparkling with charm and full of captivating period detail, Letters from Skye is a testament to the power of love to overcome great adversity, and marks Jessica Brockmole as a stunning new literary voice.
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader??s Circle for author chats and more.
Praise for Letters from Skye
??Letters from Skye is a captivating love story that celebrates the power of hope to triumph over time and circumstance.???Vanessa Diffenbaugh, New York Times bestselling author of The Language of Flowers
??[A] remarkable story of two women, their loves, their secrets, and two world wars . . . [in which] the beauty of Scotland, the tragedy of war, the longings of the heart, and the struggles of a family torn apart by disloyalty are brilliantly drawn, leaving just enough blanks to be filled by the reader??s imagination.???Publishers Weekly (starred review)
??Tantalizing . . . sure to please readers who enjoyed other epistolary novels like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.???Stratford Gazette
 
??An absorbing and rewarding saga of loss and discovery.???Kate Alcott, New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker
 
??A sweeping and sweet (but not saccharine) love story.???USA Today
 

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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.

Sparkling with charm and full of captivating period detail, Letters from Skye is a testament to the power of love to overcome great adversity, and marks Jessica Brockmole as a stunning new literary voice.
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