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The Letters [Hardcover]

Luanne Rice (Author), Joseph Monninger (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 23, 2008
Is there any mystery greater than those we love the most?

In this remarkable collaboration, New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger combine their unique talents to create a powerfully moving novel of an estranged husband and wife through a series of searching, intimate letters. By way of a correspondence so achingly real you’ll forget it’s fiction, they trace the history of a love affair and of a family before, and after, the moment that changed the course of two people’s journey forever.

Sam and Hadley West are both trying in their own ways to survive after the unthinkable loss of their only son in Alaska. For Sam, a sports journalist, acceptance means an arduous trek by dogsled across the bleak and beautiful arctic wilderness to find the place where Paul died. For Hadley, it means renting a benignly haunted, salt-soaked cottage off the Maine coast where she begins to paint again.

Now, at opposite ends of the country, waiting for their divorce to be finalized, they begin to exchange letters by post, missives filled with longing and truths they’ve never before voiced, as they recall their marriage—its magic moments and its challenges—and begin to rediscover the reasons they fell in love in the first place.

As Sam risks his life to reach the remote crash site, Hadley begins an equally hazardous inner journey to a rendezvous with the mad grief of a mother’s heart. At the place where all else is lost, they will meet again….

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The bestselling Rice teams up with Monninger in this epistolary novel of an unraveling marriage. Sam and Hadley West separated following the death of their grown son, Paul. Sam is in Laika Star, Alaska, where he is arranging to travel via dog sled to the site where Paul died in a plane crash. Hadley, meanwhile, has moved to an island off the coast of Maine and thinks Sam's trip is a bad idea. Both Sam and Hadley initially come off as unsympathetic (he too self-centered, she too bitter and jaded), but as the letters pile up and they delve deeper into their anguish while sorting out what [their] marriage means or how it should end, they endear themselves to the reader. The book is unabashedly melodramatic, but readers into the sappy will be reaching for a Kleenex by the end. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A husband and wife on the cusp of dissolving their marriage write back and forth about their personal journeys to rediscover themselves as they figure out what went wrong. Sam is in Alaska on a dogsled trip to the remote site of their son’s plane crash, while Hadley escapes to an isolated island in Maine. Both recognize the pain and mistakes they made before and after their son’s tragic death as they communicate eloquently in their letters. With each character—and each author—providing vivid descriptions of his and her surroundings and intense emotions, it’s hard for the reader to remember that she is reading fiction and not eavesdropping on personal correspondence saturated with sadness and love. As Sam and Hadley write, the hope that they may find a way back to each other before it is too late ascends. Rice and Monninger beautifully convey love and hope from two different spheres of reference, taking the reader on a journey of discovery that celebrates the beauty of letter writing, an art fast disappearing in an age of instant communication. --Patty Engelmann

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 199 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam (September 23, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553807412
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553807417
  • Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars An Emotional Read, November 3, 2008
This review is from: The Letters (Hardcover)
Sam and Hadley West have lost their precious son in an accident in the wilds of Alaska and they both deal with their loss in different ways. Sam who is a sports journalist chooses to make the long journey to the place where their son lost his life. Hadley finds solace in a haunted cottage off the Maine coast. Their loss has changed their relationship and while they are both on individual spiritual journeys to put their son's death into prospective they wait for the finalization of their divorce. And yet the two of them exchange letters voicing what they could never say face to face. Through the letters they recall the happier times, the reasons why they married and as a result the love that they once shared. But is it too late for them as a couple?

This story is without an emotional rollercoaster. This title touches on some very heavy issues, redemption, grief, forgiveness and regret. If you tend to cry during Hallmark commercials you may want to have a box of Kleenex handy as this story is unabashedly heartbreaking.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet and Sentimental, October 11, 2008
This review is from: The Letters (Hardcover)
This book is sweet and an endearing. It is sentimental and that's not an insult. It reminds us that relationships are hard work and that we all make mistakes. It also reassures that, if we want to, we can find our way back to the one we love.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars engaging look at grieving, September 30, 2008
This review is from: The Letters (Hardcover)
Sam and Hadley West are stunned to learn their beloved adult son Paul died in a plane crash in a remote part of the Alaskan Arctic wilderness. Instead of helping each other through the grief process, the Wests go their separate ways, each coping alone. As they file for divorce, Sam feels a deep need to visit the exact spot where Paul died; while Hadley runs away to a Maine barrier island turning to painting for catharsis.

Thousands of miles apart, they exchange letters telling the other what they could not explain in person. Each looks back at their long marriage with fondness and love. Sam is nearing the end of his trek, but the most arduous journey begins as he uses a dog sled to go from the last outpost Laika Star to the crash site. Hadley believes her Sam deserted her on a fool's errand until the letters keep on coming explaining his obsession while she responds explaining her obsession.

Soap operish as at times too overly emotional, readers will still relish this engaging look at grieving the loss of a son. Interestingly the tale works because the lead couple comes across as shallow with Sam only thinking of himself and Hadley angry and acrimonious. Over the course of the letters, readers understand what distress and agony can do to caring loving people as grief is a singular journey of the mind and heart.

Harriet Klausner
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