Snail Mail
Snail Mail, or Reviving the Art of Letter Writing
How wonderful it is to be able to write someone a letter! To feel like conveying your thoughts to a person, to sit at your desk and pick up a pen, to put your thoughts into words like this is truly marvelous.
~Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
It’s official. Letter writing is having a revival. In these digital days, when most of our messages are seen on screen and sent in an instant, the notion of receiving a thoughtful, handwritten note through the post feels more special than ever. It’s a chance to press pause on the fast pace of life. The sender gets to stop, slow down and enjoy the pleasure of putting pen to paper; the receiver winds down as they carefully unfurl a meaningful message from someone who cares. ~Papier.com
Make someone's mailbox happy!
upcoming
UPCOMING SNAIL MAIL SOCIALS
Snail Mail Calendar
reasons title
REASONS TO WRITE LETTERS
Reasons
getting started
Getting Started with Letter Writing
Some online resources to inspire your snail mail adventures!
- Postcrossing Postcrossing is a project that allows you to send postcards and receive postcards back from random people around the world. That's real postcards, not electronic!
mail art title
MAIL ART
Mail Art
observances
Snail Mail Events
- Second full week of January is Universal Letter Writing Week
- February 7 is National Send a Card to a Friend Day
- February 26 is Letter to an Elder Day
- March 1-7 is Write a Letter Appreciation Week
- April is National Card and Letter Writing Month
- The last Wednesday in April is World Stationery Day
- June 1 is National Pen Pal Day
- September 1 is World Letter Writing Day
- September 18-24, 2023 is Thinking of You Week
- October 9 is World Post Day
- December 7 is National Letter Writing Day
- December 9 is Christmas Card Day
opportunities
More Local Snail Mail
Historical Letter Writing Projects
- Love Letter to the World (2015)
- Operation Holiday Cheer (2023)
- New Mexico Centennial Letters (2012)
letter writing list
Here are some reads to get you in the mood for tackling your correspondence!
For more letter writing guides, try a subject search of Letter Writing.
For a list of novels in letters, try a subject search of Epistolary Fiction.
While most of these listings link by default to a print copy, many are available in other formats (eBook and eAudiobook). Don't forget to check the catalog by title or author if you prefer digital!
Letter Writing Guides and Other Non-Fiction
The Lost Art of Letter Writing by
Some letters will never leave you...
To the Letter by
The New York Times bestselling author of Just My Type and On the Map offers an ode to letter writing and its possible salvation in the digital age. Few things are as exciting—and potentially life-changing—as discovering an old letter. And while etiquette books still extol the practice, letter writing seems to be disappearing amid a flurry of e-mails, texting, and tweeting. The recent decline in letter writing marks a cultural shift so vast that in the future historians may divide time not between BC and AD but between the eras when people wrote letters and when they did not. So New York Times bestselling author Simon Garfield asks: Can anything be done to revive a practice that has dictated and tracked the progress of civilization for more than five hundred years? In To the Letter, Garfield traces the fascinating history of letter writing from the love letter and the business letter to the chain letter and the letter of recommendation. He provides a tender critique of early letter-writing manuals and analyzes celebrated correspondence from Erasmus to Princess Diana. He also considers the role that letters have played as a literary device from Shakespeare to the epistolary novel, all the rage in the eighteenth century and alive and well today with bestsellers like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. At a time when the decline of letter writing appears to be irreversible, Garfield is the perfect candidate to inspire bibliophiles to put pen to paper and create “a form of expression, emotion, and tactile delight we may clasp to our heart.”
Kind Regards by
All the signs show that the worthy art of letter writing is in decline. One third of 16-year-olds have never written a letter, and in the next ten years it is predicted that first-class mail will drop by 37%. Emails and texts have overtaken the humble pen and paper as the most popular method of communication. In Kind Regards, Liz Williams explores the popular history of letter writing and how it has shaped the world today - from the early Greek philosophers, to the great letter writers Byron and Walpole and famous letters that changed the world. It also covers the invention of the fountain pen and the growth of the mail delivery system. This is the fascinating story of how a simple piece of paper revolutionized global communication and how, despite the ever-growing influence of technology, handwritten letters are regaining their value, meaning and popularity.
Call Number: eBook
For the Love of Letters by
Have you ever wanted to write a thank-you note and suffered writer's block? Considered penning a passionate letter to your beloved, but had no idea where to begin? Needed to send a sympathy message, but couldn't find the right words? Fear not. Professional letter writer Samara O'Shea is here to spark your creativity and answer all your letter-writing questions in this charming guide. For the Love of Letters is an anecdotal primer on letter writing, with tips on how to write all types of notes: love letters, break-up letters, apology letters, thank-you letters, erotic letters (oh yes!), and more. It's filled with moving, funny, and embarrassing stories about letters Samara has written and received, including an apology from a guy who addressed her by the wrong name, a good-riddance e-mail to a capricious boyfriend, and multiple apology letters after getting fired from an internship at O: The Oprah Magazine. With a fresh, contemporary approach, Samara weighs in on appropriate methods for every situation--for example, when to handwrite, type, or e-mail (yes, e-mail) your letter. There is also a fascinating collection of engaging personal letters written by historical and literary icons such as Marie Antoinette, Beethoven, Edgar Allan Poe, Susan B. Anthony, and Emily Post. For the Love of Letters will show anyone who has ever shuddered at the idea of sitting down and putting pen to paper--or fingertips to keyboard--how to craft persuasive, interesting, and memorable letters.
Lifetime Encyclopedia of Letters by
With more than 800 sample letters and 300 model sentences, this revised and expanded version of the bestselling handbook makes writing personal and business letters a snap. Categories include: requesting favors, fund raising, collection, complaints, apologies, congratulations, and more.
The Art of the Handwritten Note by
From overcoming illegible penmanship to mastering the challenge of keeping straight margins, avoiding smeared ink, and choosing stationery that is appropriate but suits your style, this is a powerful little guide to conveying thoughts in an enduring--and noteworthy--way. For those who enjoy writing notes, or those who value doing so but find themselves intimidated by the task, acclaimed calligrapher Margaret Shepherd has created both an epistolary tribute and rescue manual. Just as you cherish receiving personal mail, you can take pleasure in crafting correspondence. Love, gratitude, condolences, congratulations--for every emotion and occasion, a snippet of heartfelt prose is included, sure to loosen the most stymied letter writer.
How to Write a Letter by
The go-to resource for creative ideas and helpful tips for writing thank you notes, addressing envelopes, cover letters, and everything in between, from thecreators of Sugar Paper Feeling like sending a little love in the mail but not sure how to get started? Along with letter-writing golden rules, How to Write a Letter will make it easier to- . select the perfect stationery for any occasion . find the best salutation and sign off . choose the right words for any situation, from congratulations to condolences . properly address an envelope in style With this book, you'll discover how hand-writing your thoughts and feelings has the magic to turn a card, letter, or even scrap of paper into a treasure.
The Most Important Letter You Will Ever Write by
If you died tomorrow, would those you love know how you felt about them? Imagine being able to eliminate the possibility of loved ones never knowing how much they meant to you. You need not imagine, this book will show you how to easily communicate your feeling ~ before its too late. Discover:~Why saying "I love you" is not enough to convey your feelings ~The tremendous power of the "lovingly" written word ~A simple process for communicating with loved ones through "Loving Letters" ~ How to find the words to express your feelings ~Why your words will become the treasured keepsake of those you love ~Why it's important to do it NOW With exercises to help you get started, soon everyone you care about will know why they mean so much.
Correspondence Collections
Letters of Note by
This spectacular collection of more than 125 letters offers a never-before-seen glimpse of the events and people of history--the brightest and best, the most notorious, and the endearingly everyday. Entries include a transcript of the letter; a short contextual introduction; and, in 100 cases, a captivating facsimile of the letter itself. The artfulness of Shaun Usher's eclectic arrangement creates a reading experience rich in discovery. Mordant, hilarious, poignant, enlightening--surprise rewards each turn of the page. Colorfully illustrated with photographs, portraits, and relevant artworks, this handsome hardcover is a visual treat too, making Letters of Note an utterly distinctive gift, and an instant classic.
Yours Ever by
From the author of A Book of One’s Own and Stolen Words comes a delightful and wide-ranging investigation of the art of letter writing. Yours Ever explores the offhand masterpieces dispatched through the ages by messenger, postal service, and BlackBerry. Thomas Mallon weaves a remarkable assortment of epistolary riches into his own insightful and eloquent commentary on the circumstances and characters of the world’s most intriguing letter writers. Here are Madame de Sévigné’s devastatingly sharp reports from the court of Louis XIV, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tormented advice to his young daughter, the besotted midlife billets-doux of a suddenly rejuvenated Woodrow Wilson, the casually brilliant spiritual musings of Flannery O’Connor, the lustful boastings of Lord Byron, the cries from prison of Sacco and Vanzetti. Along with the confessions and complaints and revelations sent from battlefields, frontier cabins, and luxury liners, a reader will find Mallon considering travel bulletins, suicide notes, fan letters, and hate mail–forms as varied as the human experiences behind them. Yours Ever is an exuberant reintroduction to a vast and entertaining literature–a book that will help to revive, in the digital age, this glorious lost art.
The Letters of Shirley Jackson by
A bewitchingly brilliant collection of never-before-published letters from the renowned author of "The Lottery" and The Haunting of Hill House "Thisbiography-through-letters gives an intimate and warm voice to the imagination behind the treasury of uncanny tales that is Shirley Jackson's legacy."-Joyce Carol Oates Shirley Jackson is one of the most important American authors of the last hundred years and among our greatest chroniclers of the female experience. This extraordinary compilation of personal correspondence has all the hallmarks of Jackson's beloved fiction- flashes of the uncanny in the domestic, sparks of horror in the quotidian, and the veins of humor that run through good times and bad. i am having a fine time doing a novel with my left hand and a long story-with as many levels as grand central station-with my right hand, stirring chocolate pudding with a spoon held in my teeth, and tuning the television with both feet. Written over the course of nearly three decades, from Jackson's college years to six days before her early death at the age of forty-eight, these letters become the autobiography Shirley Jackson never wrote. As well as being a bestselling author, Jackson spent much of her adult life as a mother of four in Vermont, and the landscape here is often the everyday- raucous holidays and trips to the dentist, overdue taxes and frayed lines of Christmas lights, new dogs and new babies. But in recounting these events to family, friends, and colleagues, she turns them into remarkable stories- entertaining, revealing, and wise. At the same time, many of these letters provide fresh insight into the genesis and progress of Jackson's writing over nearly three decades. The novel is getting sadder. It's always such a strange feeling-I know something's going to happen, and those poor people in the book don't; they just go blithely on their ways. Compiled and edited by her elder son, Laurence Jackson Hyman, in consultation with Jackson scholar Bernice M. Murphy and featuring Jackson's own witty line drawings, this intimate collection holds the beguiling prism of Shirley Jackson-writer and reader, mother and daughter, neighbor and wife-up to the light.
Dear Highlights by
A unique, inside look at American childhood through the conversations between Highlights magazine and its young readers and a call to grown-ups to make time to actively listen to the children in their lives. Every year, tens of thousands of children write to Highlights magazine, sharing their hopes and dreams, worries and concerns, as if they were writing to a trusted friend. From the beginning, the editors at Highlights have answered every child individually. Longtime editor in chief Christine French Cully has curated a collection of this remarkable correspondence (letters, emails, drawings, and poems) in Dear Highlights--revealing an intimate and inspiring 75-year conversation between America's children and its leading children's magazine. From the timeless, everyday concerns of friendship, family, and school, to the deeper issues of identity, sexuality, divorce, and grief, here is a unique time capsule of American childhood in the voices--and the very handwriting--of children themselves. The book captures a child's-eye view of some of the most important events of the past 75 years- the COVID-19 pandemic, 9/11, the Challenger Disaster, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cully's insightful narrative becomes a call to action for adults to lean in and listen to children, to make sure our kids know that they matter and what they think matters, and to assure them that they have the power to become people who change the world. By turns funny, heartbreaking, moving, and enlightening, Dear Highlights will cause readers to reflect, to listen, and to embrace the children in their lives. From the foreword by nationally syndicated columnist Amy Dickinson- "In times of great stress or trouble, Mr. Rogers advised children- 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' That's exactly what children writing to 'Dear Highlights' find when they put pen to paper- helpers whose open-minded trust and kindness surely has made our world a better place."
Love in the Blitz by
On July 17th 1939, Eileen Alexander, a bright young woman recently graduated from Girton College, Cambridge, begins a brilliant correspondence with fellow Cambridge student Gershon Ellenbogen that lasts five years and spans many hundreds of letters. But as Eileen and Gershon's relationship flourishes from friendship and admiration into passion and love, the tensions between Germany, Russia, and the rest of Europe reach a crescendo. When war is declared, Gershon heads for Cairo and Eileen forgoes her studies to work in the Air Ministry. As cinematic as Atonement, written with the intimacy of the Neapolitan quartet, Love in the Blitz is an extraordinary glimpse of life in London during World War II and an illuminating portrait of an ordinary young woman trying to carve a place for herself in a time of uncertainty. As the Luftwaffe begins its bombardment of England, Eileen, like her fellow Britons, carries on while her loved ones are called up to fight, some never to return home. Written over the course of the conflict, Eileen's letters provide a vivid and personal glimpse of this historic era. Yet throughout the turmoil and bloodshed, one thing remains constant: her beloved Gershon, who remains a source of strength and support, even after he, too, joins the fighting. Though his letters have been lost to time, the bolstering force of his love for Eileen is illuminated in her responses to him. Equal parts heartrending and heartwarming, Love in the Blitz is a timeless romance and a deeply personal story of life and resilience amid the violence and terror of war.
Letters from Tove by
A virtual memoir in letters by the beloved creator of the Moomins Tove Jansson's works, even her famed Moomin books, fairly teem with letters of one kind or another, from messages bobbing in bottles to whole epistolary novels. Fortunately for her countless readers, her life was no different, unfolding as it did in the letters to family, friends, and lovers that make up this volume, a veritable autobiography over the course of six decades--and the only one Jansson ever wrote. And just as letters carry a weight of significance in Jansson's writing, those she wrote throughout her life reflect the gravity of her circumstances, the depth of her thoughts and feelings, and the critical moments of humor, sadness, and grace that mark an artist's days. These letters, penned with characteristic insight and wit, provide an almost seamless commentary on Jansson's life within Helsinki's bohemian circles and on her island home. Shifting between hope and despair, yearning and happiness, they describe her immersion in art studies and her ascension to fame with the Moomins. They speak frankly of friendship and love, loneliness and solidarity, and also of politics, art, literature, and society. They summon a particular place and time reflected through a mind finely attuned to her culture, her world, and her own nature--all clearly put into biographical and historical context by the volume's editors, both longtime friends of Tove Jansson--and, in the end, draw a complex, intimate self-portrait of one of the world's most beloved authors.
Letters from Hollywood by
Rarenotes, memos, and telegrams from Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, Jane Fonda, and moreLetters from Hollywood reproduces in full color scores of entertaining and insightful pieces of correspondence from some of the most notable and talented film industry names of all time-from the silent era to the golden age, and up through the pre-email days of the 1970s. Culled from libraries, archives, and personal collections, the 135 letters, memos, and telegrams are organized chronologically and are annotated by the authors to provide backstories and further context. While each piece reveals a specific moment in time, taken together, the letters convey a bigger picture of Hollywood history. Contributors include celebrities like Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Cary Grant, Francis Ford Coppola, Tom Hanks, and Jane Fonda. This is the gift book of the season for fans of classic Hollywood.
The Letters of Sylvia Plath Volume 1 by
A major literary event: the first volume in the definitive, complete collection of the letters of Sylvia Plath--most never before seen. One of the most beloved poets of the modern age, Sylvia Plath continues to inspire and fascinate the literary world. While her renown as one of the twentieth century's most influential poets is beyond dispute, Plath was also one of its most captivating correspondents. The Letters of Sylvia Plath is the breathtaking compendium of this prolific writer's correspondence with more than 120 people, including family, friends, contemporaries, and colleagues. The Letters of Sylvia Plath includes her correspondence from her years at Smith, her summer editorial internship in New York City, her time at Cambridge, her experiences touring Europe, and the early days of her marriage to Ted Hughes in 1956. Most of the letters are previously unseen, including sixteen letters written by Plath to Hughes when they were apart after their honeymoon. This magnificent compendium also includes twenty-seven of Plath's own elegant line drawings taken from the letters she sent to her friends and family, as well as twenty-two previously unpublished photographs. This remarkable, collected edition of Plath's letters is a work of immense scholarship and care, presenting a comprehensive and historically accurate text of the known and extant letters that she wrote. Intimate and revealing, this masterful compilation offers fans and scholars generous and unprecedented insight into the life of one of our most significant poets.
Dear Friend by
A beautiful collection of handwritten letters that offer strength, encouragement, and comfort to women living with breast cancer. Brimming with warm messages and words of wisdom for when it's needed most: Written by compassionate strangers--many of whom have gone through their own health battles--these heartfelt letters contain empathy, inspiration, and humor to help you overcome difficult moments. They were gathered by Girls Love Mail, an organization that provides support to people diagnosed with breast cancer. * Contains many beautiful illustrations to match the handwritten notes by other women who have had their own health struggles * A book that brings light to dark moments and makes readers feel less alone during stressful and hard times * Gina L. Mulligan is a writer and the founder of Girls Love Mail. She founded the organization after her own diagnosis in 2011 and the charity has sent out over 100,000 handwritten letters of encouragement to women with breast cancer across the country A handwritten letter is a powerful healing tool that is a cherished gift for a woman going through a difficult time. Dear Friendmakes a heartwarming and motivational gift for a loved one recently diagnosed with breast cancer to remind them that they aren't alone, and that they are strong enough to keep fighting.
Radical Hope by
Radical Hope is a collection of letters--to ancestors, to children five generations from now, to strangers in grocery lines, to any and all who feel weary and discouraged--written by award-winning novelists, poets, political thinkers, and activists. Provocative and inspiring, Radical Hope offers readers a kaleidoscopic view of the love and courage needed to navigate this time of upheaval, uncertainty, and fear, in view of the recent US presidential election. Including letters by Junot Díaz, Alicia Garza, Roxana Robinson, Lisa See, Jewelle Gomez, Hari Kunzru, Faith Adiele, Parnaz Foroutan, Chip Livingston, Mohja Kahf, Achy Obejas, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Cherríe Moraga, Kate Schatz, Boris Fishman, Karen Joy Fowler, Elmaz Abinader, Aya de León, Jane Smiley, Luis Alberto Urrea, Mona Eltahawy, Jeff Chang, Claire Messud, Meredith Russo, Reyna Grande, Katie Kitamura, iO Tillett Wright, Francisco Goldman, Celeste Ng, Peter Orner, and Cristina García.
Home and Away by
Two world-class writers reveal themselves to be the ultimate soccer fans in these collected letters Karl Ove Knausgaard is sitting at home in Skåne with his wife, four small children, and dog. He is watching soccer on TV and falls asleep in front of the set. He likes 0-0 draws, cigarettes, coffee, and Argentina. Fredrik Ekelund is away, in Brazil, where he plays soccer on the beach and watches matches with others. Ekelund loves games that end up 4-3 and teams that play beautiful soccer. He likes caipirinhas and Brazil. Home and Away is an unusual soccer book, in which the two authors use soccer and the World Cup in Brazil as the arena for reflections on life and death, art and politics, class and literature. What does it mean to be at home in a globalized world? This exchange of letters opens up new vistas and gives us stories from the lives of two creative writers. We get under their skin and gain insight into their relationships with modern times and soccer's place in their lives, the significance the game has for people in general, and the question Was this the best soccer championship ever?
Migrant Longing by
Drawing upon a personal collection of more than 300 letters exchanged between her parents and other family members across the U.S.-Mexico border, Miroslava Chavez-Garcia recreates and gives meaning to the hope, fear, and longing migrants experienced in their everyday lives both "here" and "there" (aqui y alla). As private sources of communication hidden from public consumption and historical research, the letters provide a rare glimpse into the deeply emotional, personal, and social lives of ordinary Mexican men and women as recorded in their immediate, firsthand accounts. Chavez-Garcia demonstrates not only how migrants struggled to maintain their sense of humanity in el norte but also how those remaining at home made sense of their changing identities in response to the loss of loved ones who sometimes left for weeks, months, or years at a time, or simply never returned. With this richly detailed account, ranging from the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s to the emergence of Silicon Valley in the late 1960s, Chavez-Garcia opens a new window onto the social, economic, political, and cultural developments of the day and recovers the human agency of much maligned migrants in our society today.
The Mitfords by
The great wits and beauties of their age, the Mitford sisters were immoderate in their passions for ideas and people, counting among their diverse friends Adolf Hitler and Queen Elizabeth II, Cecil Beaton and President Kennedy, Evelyn Waugh and Givenchy. As editor Charlotte Mosley notes, not since the Brontës have the members of a single family written so much about themselves, or have been so written about. The Mitfords offers an unparalleled look at these privileged sisters: Nancy, the scalding wit who transformed her family life into bestselling novels; Pamela, who craved nothing more than a quiet country life; Diana, the fascist jailed with her husband, Oswald Mosley, during World War II; Unity, a suicide, torn by her worship of Hitler and her loyalty to home; Jessica, the runaway Communist and fighter for social change; and Deborah, the genial socialite who found herself Duchess of Devonshire. Spanning the twentieth century, the magically vivid letters of the legendary Mitford sisters constitute not just a superb social and historical chronicle; they also provide an intimate portrait of the stormy but enduring relationships between six beautiful, gifted, and radically different women who wrote to one another to confide, commiserate, tease, rage, and gossip--and above all to amuse.
Letters from Max by
A KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF 2018 In 2012, Sarah Ruhl was a distinguished author and playwright, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Max Ritvo, a student in her playwriting class at Yale University, was an exuberant, opinionated, and highly gifted poet. He was also in remission from pediatric cancer. Over the next four years--in which Ritvo's illness returned and his health declined, even as his productivity bloomed--the two exchanged letters that spark with urgency, humor, and the desire for connection. Reincarnation, books, the afterlife as an Amtrak quiet car, good soup: in Ruhl and Ritvo's exchanges, all ideas are fair, nourishing game, shared and debated in a spirit of generosity and love. "We'll always know one another forever, however long ever is," Ritvo writes. "And that's all I want--is to know you forever." Studded with poems and songs, Letters from Max is a deeply moving portrait of a friendship, and a shimmering exploration of love, art, mortality, and the afterlife.
100 Letters That Changed the World by
The history of the world as witnessed through the most inspiring, heartfelt, and impactful letters ever written. For the legions of readers who enjoyed 100 Diagrams that Changed the World and A History of the World in 100 Objects, here is a new take on understanding world history through the most important, impassioned, and world-changing letters ever penned. The selected letters demonstrate the power of the written word to inspire, astonish, and entertain and range from ink-inscribed tablets vividly describing life in ancient Rome to remarkable last wills and testaments, passionate outpourings of love and despair, and diplomatic notes with deadly consequences. Included are entries that span history: Leonardo da Vinci's résumé with barely a mention of his artistic talents; Henry VIII's love letters to Anne Boleyn; Beatrix Potter's correspondence with a friend's son that inspired Peter Rabbit; the scrawled note that brought about Oscar Wilde's downfall; SOS telegrams from the Titanic; the telegram informing the president about the bombing of Pearl Harbor; Martin Luther King, Jr.'s open letter from a Birmingham jail; Nelson Mandela's letters from prison; as well as notable suicide notes or famous last words by cultural luminaries such as Virginia Woolf, Baudelaire, and Kurt Cobain.
Letter Writing in Fiction
(but not epistolary novels)
Keep Me Posted by
Two sisters share the surprising highs and cringe-worthy lows of social media fame, when their most private thoughts become incredibly public in this fresh and funny debut novel. Sisters Cassie and Sid Sunday have not done a bang-up job of keeping in touch. In their defense, it hasn't been easy: life veered in sharply different directions for the once-close sisters. Today, beautiful and big-hearted Sid lives an expat's life of leisure in far-off Singapore, while harried, iPhone-clutching Cassie can't seem to make it work as a wife and a mom to twin toddlers in Manhattan. It doesn't help that Sid spurns all social media while Cassie is addicted to Facebook. So when Sid issues a challenge to reconnect the old-fashioned way--through real, handwritten letters--Cassie figures, why not? The experiment exceeds both of their expectations, and the letters become a kind of mutual confessional that have real and soul-satisfying effects. And they just might have the power to help Cassie save her marriage, and give Sid the strength to get her life back on track. But first, one of Cassie's infamous lapses in judgment comes back to bite her, and all of the letters wind up the one place you'd never, ever want to see them: the Internet...
Scribe by
A haunting, evocative tale about the power of storytelling A brutal civil war has ravaged the country, and contagious fevers have decimated the population. Abandoned farmhouses litter the isolated mountain valleys and shady hollows. The economy has been reduced to barter and trade. In this craggy, unwelcoming world, the central character ofScribeekes out a lonely living on the family farmstead where she was raised and where her sister met an untimely end. She lets a migrant group known as the Uninvited set up temporary camps on her land, and maintains an uneasy peace with her cagey neighbors and the local enforcer. She has learned how to make paper and ink, and she has become known for her letter-writing skills, which she exchanges for tobacco, firewood, and other scarce resources. An unusual request for a letter from a man with hidden motivations unleashes the ghosts of her troubled past and sets off a series of increasingly calamitous events that culminate in a harrowing journey to a crossroads. Drawing on traditional folktales and the history and culture of Appalachia, Alyson Hagy has crafted a gripping, swiftly plotted novel that touches on pressing issues of our time--migration, pandemic disease, the rise of authoritarianism--and makes a compelling case for the power of stories to both show us the world and transform it.
The Lost Letters of William Woolf by
"Enchanting, intriguing, deeply moving. The Lost Letters of William Woolf concerns itself as much with lost love as it does with lost letters." --Irish Times *** Lost letters have only one hope for survival... Inside the walls of the Dead Letters Depot, letter detectives work to solve mysteries. They study missing zip codes, illegible handwriting, rain-smudged ink, lost address labels, torn packages, forgotten street names--all the many twists of fate behind missed birthdays, broken hearts, unheard confessions, pointless accusations, unpaid bills, unanswered prayers. Their mission is to unite lost mail with its intended recipients. But when letters arrive addressed simply to "My Great Love," longtime letter detective William Woolf faces his greatest mystery to date. Written by a woman to the soulmate she hasn't met yet, the missives capture William's heart in ways he didn't know possible. Soon, he finds himself torn between the realities of his own marriage and his world of letters, and his quest to follow the clues becomes a life-changing journey of love, hope, and courage. From Irish author Helen Cullen, The Lost Letters of William Woolf is an enchanting novel about the resilience of the human heart and the complex ideas we hold about love--and a passionate ode to the art of letter writing.
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