The Letters by Luanne Rice & Joseph Monninger

First line: “November 6: Dear Hadley, I made it.”

The Letters beautifully follows a middle-aged couple in the waning days of their marriage through a series of letters sent via FedEx from Alaska (Sam) and the coast of Maine (Hadley). Just weeks away from the finalization of their divorce, the estranged couple begins writing letters to each other, opening up about the painful past that tore them apart. Sam is on a dangerous trek in icy Alaska, to find the spot where their son’s small plane crashed. Hadley has left their home for Maine to think and begin painting again. The death of their only son, 23, left the family fractured and unable to cope with the trauma. Sam, a popular sports journalist, traveled, while Hadley sought comfort in the arms of another man. The mastery in this collaboration is both the writing itself, eloquent and expertly crafted, and the depths that the authors go to give us a real-life look at love struggling not to drown in its sadness. The pictures of both Alaska and Maine that the authors paint are truly majestic. While one must suspend disbelief that anyone would write such long letters and pay to have them FedExed back and forth in such a way, it’s worth it to experience a sort of nostalgia for the power in letter writing so cast away in today’s clipped and curt e-mail communications. Rice/Monninger are perfectly suited to share the covers. 

For a story of healing and marriage perfect for snuggling up with on chilled autumn or winter days.- Malena Lott

Buy it at Amazon.