Jessica Brockmole

Letters From Skye was so much better than I was expecting. Told completely as a series of letters, it is an historical fiction novel that begins in 1912 and finishes up during WWII.

The story starts with young David Graham, a college student in Chicago, writing a fan letter to Elspeth Dunn, the author of a book of poetry who lives in Scotland, on the remote Island of Skye. Their frequent letter writing continues as their relationship deepens into love. It is a relationship, of course, that is show more complicated by geography, family, and war.

In alternating chapters, the story moves forward from 1912 to 1940. Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, falls in love with a pilot and doesn’t understand why her mother is so against the relationship. When her mother disappears after a bombing, she is determined to find the answer.

Yes, it sounds like a romance novel and it is a love story, but the writing is wonderfully poignant and the book very atmospheric. I love epistolary novels for how they allow the story to unfold slowly with a little bit of mystery. I hardly wanted to put this one down.

An entertaining summer read and recommended especially for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Received as an arc free of charge from the publisher in exchange for a fair review. show less

I've always been a fan of books that have more than one timeline if they're well-written, and Letters from Skye certainly is. These timelines involving the world wars compliment each other perfectly, and Brockmole's research adds period detail that brings the stories to life. The stories unfold in a series of letters. Watching the love between Elspeth and David blossom is a wonderful thing, and what makes this book even stronger is that readers may think they know what's going to happen, but show more the author doesn't always oblige. Those little surprises woven into the plot make the book even stronger and more involving.

I have to be honest and admit that I have a personal reason for enjoying this book so much. When I was even younger than Elspeth, I began corresponding with a young man in England. We became friends, and that friendship turned to love. I was so in tune with Allen and the mail services that I always sensed when a letter would arrive, and heaven help anyone who got between me and the mailbox on those days. My story didn't have a happy ending, but Letters from Skye brought back the best of my memories and touched my heart profoundly. As Elspeth said to Margaret: I should've "taught you that a letter isn't always just a letter. Words on the page can drench the soul. If only you knew."

I do know, and I loved this story. show less

Letters from Skye is a book about friendship, illicit love, families, jealousy, and more blended together in one narrative spanning two wars and two continents. In 1912, University of Illinois student David Graham writes a fan letter to a reclusive Scottish poet, Mrs. Elspeth Dunn, who lives on the Island of Skye. When Elspeth replies to David, they begin to fall in love by correspondence, sharing their wildest hopes, deepest secrets and favorite books over the next few years. But as World show more War I plunges Europe into chaos and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.

After the first chapter where we learn the beginning of the Elspeth/Davey love story, the novel shifts to 1940 and introduces a new character, a young woman in England writing to her mother in Edinburgh. Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen in love with a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Elspeth has warned her against wartime love affairs, but Margaret doesn’t understand why. After a bomb hits Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come tumbling down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts and Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone and what happened to her family almost three decades ago.

The plot isn't unique. This is a lightly romantic account set in the middle of both World War I and World War II, written solely in letter form, that explores life and relationships during wartime. It makes me sad to think, that in this electronic age, letters aren't written much any more. I really enjoyed reading a novel written entirely in this disappearing art form. show less

It's been a long time since I read something that made me audibly catch my breath. Several times.

One of my favorite books ever is The Guernsey literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and this caught my eye because the format is similar: a story told through letters. In fact, the two stories begin almost identically: bachelor writes a witty letter of admiration to a female writer and a wartime-era correspondence begins.

[Letters from Skye] veers a slightly different direction, however; it tracks show more two separate correspondences: that of Elspeth Dunn, circa World War I, and that of Margaret, Elspeth's daughter, circa World War II. Margaret's determination to follow the trail of her mother's epistolary relationship leads to those breath-catching discoveries I mentioned earlier.

If engagingly written period pieces intrigue you, be certain your family has been properly fed and you don't need to arise to an alarm clock the morning after you start this. It's quite possible you won't want to close your eyes until you turn the last page. show less