Book Review: The Lost Letters of Evelyn Wright by Clare Swatman

Rating: 2.5⭐️

As the story begins, we meet Beth, a newly divorced schoolteacher and mother of two, as she moves into an old cottage with her two children after her husband buys out her share of their family home. A fixer-upper in need of a lot of repairs, Beth has her hands full what with her children’s unhappiness, the unpleasantness between herself and her ex-husband and the lack of much of a support system in terms of friends or family. When she discovers a bundle of decades-old letters addressed to an “agony aunt” column (addressed to “Evelyn Wright") in an old magazine addressed”, she finds the process of reading about other’s problems (some similar to her very own) cathartic and her curiosity about the real Evelyn Wright motivated her to not only attempt to find out more about the person but also start a blog/advice column of her own. We follow Beth as she discovers more about Evelyn, makes new friends, and gradually rebuilds her life.

I really loved the premise of The Lost Letters of Evelyn Wright by Clare Swatman. I loved the idea of finding old letters and how a character could be motivated to deal with her own troubles based on advice meant for other people (though Beth acknowledges some of the advice wouldn’t quite apply in today’s world, she was able to understand the wisdom behind the advice and relate to the same). I was sympathetic to Beth’s situation and hated her ex-husband (it's difficult not to) and could understand Beth’s resentment and pain. Unfortunately, I found little else to enjoy in this novel. The pacing is on the slower side an the narrative suffers from repetitiveness. The search for Evelyn and her story was an interesting plot point but as the story unfolded several aspects of the plot felt contrived (more telling than showing) and the convenient coincidences soon took the joy out of the story. Beth’s immaturity in dealing with her husband was off-putting but I would have been willing to ignore this if she had exercised better judgment in her personal life and made less questionable choices. The new relationship angle was poorly plotted, distasteful and cringe-worthy. I did like the characterization of Beth’s daughter and thought that the author was able to portray the seven-year-old’s confusion and her reaction to the situation between her parents realistically.

Overall, I can’t say that this was a satisfying read but please do read other reviews as many readers have enjoyed this novel more than I did.

Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.