Santa Barbara Herald
Friday July 7, 1989
Missing Mother Found Dead in Dumpster

That's the opening page of Letters Between Us. And although it reads like real life, it is a fascinating work of fiction.

Laura and Katherine were friends from grade eight through to the death of Katherine at age 39. They faithfully kept in touch over the years with letters. When Laura goes to the funeral, she is given a box of letters and photos to go through by Katherine's estranged husband. Laura asks her husband to send the box of letters she has saved to her. She holes up in a motel rereading and reliving not just Fields' life but her own.

The book is a mixture of Laura's reminiscences and correspondence between the women, with letters faithfully reproduced. Bolder type is used for Laura's correspondence and faded, tiny script for Katharine's. Although I believe this script mimics what Katharine's type and style of writing would be like, I found it a bit hard to read. It is interspersed with Laura's journal entries from 1989 and memories of their lives together.

Katharine's letters seem to allude to something dark, but not spoken of. She has struggled with mental health issues and both of her parents are alcoholic. It is only upon rereading and reflection that Laura sees the hidden hurt of Katharine's life, clues she missed the first time around. Laura also sees her own life replayed - she was a heavy drug user, engaged in casual sex and enjoyed the 'let it be' attitude of the sixties. This reflection propels her toward a personal revelation.

What struck me most reading this fictionalized memoir was the joy and love these two girls/women felt towards each other. They truly had a friendship that endured. How difficult it must have been for Laura to read those letters. I enjoyed the letter and journal format. The writing was so believablem it had me truly thinking that this was an actual memoir! ( )

This is a story told through letters between two women. From 1963 to 1989 they are friends, keeping diaries and writing letters, sharing everything through three decades of growth and change. The book begins with the loss of one of them, Katherine, tragically. Her friend Laura comes into possession of all their correspondence in a box that Katherine had kept, along with her diaries. Katherine had problems her friends and family could not seem to share or understand and the details of her death are baffling to everyone.

Laura, depite problems in her own marriage and a mother suffering from dementia who calls her constantly in a state of confusion, is determined to take a few days away. She's compelled to sort and read all the letters between them to find out what she may have overlooked. Did she miss Katherine's pain and turmoil or was it there between the lines? Might Laura have foreseen some things and helped her friend more? Or was she too busy living the high life to pay attention to what her friend was saying. It's natural to wonder. So through Laura we read the letters together, in the order that they were written, starting in grade school through high school and the college years. They wrote to each other even when together in school or the same town. Then on to new adventures in living, loving, and loss.

Katherine was the straighter arrow of the two. It was Lauren who took risks with drugs, sex, drinking and partying. She thought she might be the one to run into trouble but never Katharine, who wouldn't even try drugs. And while she knew K. had lived with abusive and alcoholic parents, she never saw the depth of her friends sadness. She discovers through the letters that things were happening to Katherine that she never fully realized. If Katharine ended up depressed and under treatment toward the end it seems she had reason. Passionate or tender, poignant or sometimes dark, the story of their lives unfolds for us, letter by letter. The novel is rich with details and Overman's writing sets the mood perfectly. Highly recommended. ( )

Letters Between Us is a story of two best friends, Katherine Taylor Fields and Laura Wells. The story begins when Katherine is found dead. Laura is shocked and trying to make sense of her death. So Laura decides to travel back in time by reading all the correspondences she and Katherine wrote each other. Letters Between Us takes the reader through the span of the sixties, seventies, and eighties. This book is a beautifully crafted tale of love, loss, growing pains and most of all friendship.

Linda Rader Overman is a true craftsman of the art of fine storytelling. Every once in a while, you read a book that moves you so much that it sticks in your head; well I have to tell you that Letters Between Us is one of those books. Though it was a terrible tragedy what happened to Katherine, the one thing that Katherine had that most people would envy is a wonderful best friend in Laura. This is the first book I have read by Linda and I hope to read more by this author. ( )