Book review

Title: Letters to the Lost

Author: Ione Grey

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 384

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

*Warning: mature content. Parents please be advised.*

Synopsis (Goodreads):

1943, in the ruins of Blitzed London…

Stella Thorne and Dan Rosinski meet by chance and fall in love by accident. Theirs is a reluctant, unstoppable affair in which all the odds are stacked against them: she is newly married, and he is an American bomber pilot whose chance of survival is just one in five.

 

… He promised to love her forever

Seventy years later Dan makes one final attempt to find the girl he has never forgotten, and sends a letter to the house where they shared a brief yet perfect happiness. But Stella has gone, and the letter is opened by Jess, a young girl hiding from problems of her own. And as Jess reads Dan’s words, she is captivated by the story of a love affair that burned so bright and dimmed too soon. Can she help Dan find Stella before it is too late?

 

Now forever is finally running out.

Book Review:

This book contains two stories set in Great Britain; one in the past and one in present day. The two stories connect perfectly. I loved how the two stories intertwined and I was kept guessing as to what was going to happen next.

The story starts out in the present, introducing the readers to the character Jess. She is escaping an abusive boyfriend, and goes into this house that looks deserted. There she finds a letter written by someone trying to find their true love from World War Two era.

Jump back in time and we are introduced to Stella, who is a young and naive character who believes the best in everyone and just wants to please people. She meets Dan, a US air force pilot, and her whole world changes. They fall in love, naturally, but we are kept guessing as to what happens to them through the whole book, which I loved!! I never knew what was going to happen next, which was thrilling and exciting.

I loved Stella’s character. She developed really well in the book, going from a young and naive girl to an experienced woman who learns a lot about herself and about the world around her. She learns that war is not fair, and that sometimes you are forced to make tough decisions. The reason I docked the book half a star was because I believe that Jess’ character could have been developed better in the beginning. I was left guessing a lot about her character, and we don’t learn a lot about her until the middle-end of the book. I would have liked to have known her background story before we got into the relationship between Stella and Dan. However, the whole premise of the book is to find out what happened between Stella and Dan, so I do not blame the author too much that she did not focus on Jess’ character development as much as Stella’s. I felt like I could have had a great connection with Jess’ character, but there was just something missing. Like a bit of background into what was actually going on with her and her abusive boyfriend.

In the end, I loved this book. I love how it transported me back to the time of World War Two Era England, and I loved how the story was set up as a mystery. There were many twists and turns in the book, and a few surprises that kept the reader guessing and wanting to read more.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me an email or comment.

Happy Reading!