I have liked all the novels I’ve read by Erica James over the past twenty years or so, and am always pleased when I learn that she’s published a new one. I put ‘Letters from the Past’ on my wishlist as soon as it was out in paperback, and was very pleased to receive a copy for my birthday a couple of months ago.
Most of the story is set in 1962. First we meet Evelyn, a woman who is probably in her early forties, with twin nineteen-year-old children whom she’s hoping to hear from soon. We quickly learn that Evelyn and her husband Kit are hosting a party, to celebrate twenty years of marriage. Their wedding was quiet, as it was during the war; so they’re doing something lavish, with caterers, and a marquee on the lawn.
Then Evelyn receives a nasty anonymous letter.
Next we meet Hope, Evelyn’s sister-in-law. She’s Kit’s sister, and is a very successful children’s writer. She works hard and worries a lot. She and her husband weren’t able to have children, but she adopted her first husband’s niece Annaliese from Germany.
Hope’s first chapter tells quite a bit of her past, and - as I suddenly realised - these people, and others in this book were introduced in the book ‘Coming Home to Island House’, which I read a couple of years ago. I liked the book very much and was sorry to say goodbye to the characters so it was a very pleasant surprise to realise that this is essentially a sequel, albeit set over twenty years later.
And at the end of Hope’s chapter, she, too, discovers a disturbing anonymous letter, accusing her husband of something.
Evelyn and Hope are not the only two people in their village to receive letters; we learn of two more women who are significant characters, and it’s assumed that there may be others, although it’s not until near the end of the book that it becomes clear who sent them. But all the people who receive them are seriously disturbed by them.
There are a lot of viewpoint characters in this book, something which I found quite confusing at times. Romily is easy enough to remember: she was an important person in the first book, who took on her late husband’s three adult children, and has been an involved, caring influence on their lives and those of their children - and many other local folk. However Romily is in the United States when we first meet her, discussing the possible filming of one of her novels. She meets a man called Red and finds him arrogant and selfish, but there’s clear an attraction at some level for them both…
It took me until I was about half way through the novel before I started to feel involved in the lives of the many characters - and I was glad I had read the earlier book, even though this stands alone. I had forgotten about Arthur, Kit and Hope’s older brother, who was unpleasant as a young man, positively dreadful now he’s older. He has an adult son, Ralph, who loathes him - we learn some of the reasons why over the course of the book - and Ralph is starting to behave a bit like his father, much to the consternation of other family members.
But the character I felt sorriest for was Julia, Arthur’s third wife, and mother of Charlie. Charlie is terrified of his father, but Julia seems a bit pathetic at times, determined to ‘obey’ - both in doing tiring domestic duties to Arthur’s satisfaction, with constant criticism, and also in giving into his carnal needs which are extreme (although, thankfully, only hints are given as to what she is required to do).
So the novel consists of a lot of short chapters, with quite a few different subplots, many of them involving romantic and other relationships. I thought it was quite cleverly done, with some flashbacks told in the first person that explain various secrets in people’s pasts. It was moving in places, shocking in others, and overall quite encouraging as several characters are able to come to terms, at last, with events from their past.
Not my favourite of Erica James’ novels, but still a good read, particularly if you enjoyed ‘Coming Home to Island House’, and were hoping to meet the extended Devereux family again.
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