Lydia

by Brian Willson

Type designer Ed Austin is on a losing streak. Divorced, and with his daughter studying abroad, he has only an old dog for a companion. His world has contracted into something simple, solitary—and safe. But after acquiring a dozen handwritten letters forgotten in the barn of an old Maine farmhouse, Ed finds himself haunted by thoughts of a nineteenth-century woman named Lydia Starbird. At first he’s enchanted by her penmanship, and then the life she describes in her letters—each addressed to a cruel husband who cannot read. When finally he encounters Lydia herself, he starts to question everything.

Is she a ghost? A time traveler? Or the invention of a yearning soul?

With precise attention to the subtleties of human emotion and vivid description of the natural world, Lydia tells a haunting tale of carrying on in the face of loss.

Genres: Mystery

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2013

About the author

Brian Willson grew up in Austin, where he bounced around the music scene a while before snagging a degree from The University of Texas. In 1980 he became a father and moved with his family to coastal Maine, where he has worked as a journalist and designer of typefaces based on historical materials—including penmanship from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Lydia is his first novel.

Reviews

[Aditi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad, solitary man finding solace in the letters of a nineteenth century woman, named Lydia. Lydia by Brian Willson is a sad, pensive and sorrowful and haunting love-story between a lonely man and a woman from the very long past.

Ed is a lonely, divorced man with a daughter, who lives abroad, and his only companion, his dog. Surprisingly in the barn, he comes across some letters dating back to the 1800s and all those letters were quite sad and addressed by a woman, named Lydia to her husband.
But when Ed of present day encounters Lydia of the long forgotten past, thus begins a new chapter in Ed's life.

This book is a highly emotional one; you might find yourself teary-eyed in some chapters. The writing is so good that this book takes you to a different era filled with mystical love and emotions and a journey that you'll show you how to let go and move on with your life. The characters were thoroughly well developed which will intrigue you in so many ways. The love between Lydia and Ed is something so eternal and pure, which will make you feel different and being in love in a whole new way.

Go for this book, if you want some eerie and memorable love-story.

Thanks to the author, Brian Willson, for providing me with a copy of his book, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are books that are so engrossing you can not put them down. They pull you forward on the edge of your seat, rushing through to the end, because you must know what happens, have the mystery solved, the crime or riddle solved, before you can rest and put it down. This is not such a book, at least not for me. This was a slow read, a book to savor and think about, to put down, and then pick up again in the quiet at the end of the day.
It was not a happy story. More melancholy and sad, but with wisdom and reverence for timeless things, ageless and haunting. It does not tie up into a neat bow in the end, all happy and settled. It leaves you thinking about the timelessness of love, of loss, of letting go, of moving on.
The writing is very good, very descriptive and evocative of forest, fields, meadows, and forest streams and ponds. Of the love we have for each other, and our love for companion animals? The author has an obvious love for words and letters, and the story is interwoven with his birthing a new typeface, created from the lovely handwriting of the Lydia of the title, a woman who lived in the early 1800s.
Read it if you like haunting love stories, like to imagine a world beyond our understanding, and being left with questions to ponder. Look elsewhere for heart pounding thrills, as you will not find these here!

I was mildly distracted by a number of editing errors, but it did not ruin my enjoyment of the book.

I am grateful to have been given a copy of the book by the author in the Goodreads book giveaway program.

[Joseph Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, dog...and ghost?

Lydia is a melancholy, sweet, romantic story that disguises its true purpose as a thought exercise in how we react to and ultimately address life's transitions. A clear, unpretentious, enjoyable read!

[Keetha]

The description of this book ticked several of my boxes - it was about typefaces, it's in New England, and there may or may not be magic or something supernatural afoot? Yes, please!

The descriptions of designing a typeface were fascinating. Overall, I liked this book but the ending left me a little ... lost.

-- spoilers ahead -- The dog was obviously Pumpkin. I guessed that as soon as the three-legged dog appeared. Dorrie's blue eyes were mentioned several times - is she a descendant of a child that Lydia and Ed had together? There seems a spark of interest between Ed and Lily - are we to imagine they end up together?

A lot of unanswered questions. The story seemed to end without some kind of resolution. Again, all in all I liked it but thought the ending was unsatisfying.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this quiet and beautifully written book. The main character, Ed Austin, is a loner, at once comfortable with his ability to exist without other people, yet unsettled by it. The book describes the beauty of rural Maine, as well as Ed’s hobby of bird watching. It also explains the art of typography, by which Ed earns his living. His life is upended when the ghost of a 19th century woman (from whose troubled letters he is designing a font) appears and lends both mystery and suspense to the story.

[Tosha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first several chapters were boring as if reading a journal. I cried through chapter 11-12 and then at about chapter 20 I couldn't put it down. A time travel historical women angel lover.

I later went on to research the authors job as a graphic font creator. Interesting. Yes I looked for "Lydia's Script"

This book does contain several "F" bombs.

[Kristen Lindquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunting, unusual romance between a loner and a woman from the past, poignant with detail and emotional authenticity.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part love story, part ghost story! Vivid storytelling and attention to detail allow the reader to feel the cold of a Maine winter, the warmth of the sun on stone, and hear birdsong in the woods.