THE LETTERS

Author: Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger ISBN: 9780553807417 9/2008 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: BANTAM

Is there any mystery greater than those we love the most? 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….

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I believe THE LETTERS may be one of my all-time favorite love stories. Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger have written a tale that, although at times heartbreaking and filled with raw emotion, is honest and brave. In the end, it is realistic and heartwarming. The story of love found, then lost, then the journey toward hopefully finding it again.

Sam and Hadley tell their story through a series of letters. This couple, who once had the world by the tail, have drifted apart—far apart—as a result of their son's untimely death. They each feel their loss deeply but deal with it in very different ways. Sam feels compelled to see for himself just where their son, Paul, died. Hadley looks for what she's lost in a more ethereal way. She rents a cottage on an island and does something she hasn't done in far too long. Hadley paints.

Anyone who's been married for any length of time will recognize bits of themselves and their spouse in Sam and Hadley. Of course, unless one has suffered a tragedy like theirs it's impossible to fully feel what they're going through, but their correspondence is so open and honest it's hard not to have deep empathy for them. What I loved the most about this is that the candid retelling of their story in their letters is neither glossy nor perfect. They are "real" people, with lives that aren't always exactly storybook perfect. Yet they love each other, and their son, deeply. When it counts, they know how to pull together. Sam and Hadley's is, despite the horrible grief that weaves throughout this tale, a love story.

I was entranced, from beginning to end, with THE LETTERS. Truly amazing!

Kay James