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Letters From the Past
Suffolk, 1962. The Devereux family are gathering for a party, and a series of anonymous letters are about to turn the sleepy village of Melstead St Mary upside down . . .
Evelyn is preparing to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary, but there are secrets she's never told her beloved husband, Kit. Secrets that stretch back to her wartime days at Bletchley Park . . .
For Hope, her sister-in-law, happiness has never come easily, and the letter she receives could destroy her fragile world. While, up at Melstead Hall, Julia has discovered that life she married into comes at a heavy price.
And halfway across the world, the indomitable Romily is longing for home. But with the Devereux family under threat, she finds herself confronting her own closely guarded secret. Can she save the day, and seize her own chance of happiness?
From the gorgeous Suffolk countryside to the sun-baked desert of Palm Springs, let Erica James sweep you away...
Evelyn is preparing to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary, but there are secrets she's never told her beloved husband, Kit. Secrets that stretch back to her wartime days at Bletchley Park . . .
For Hope, her sister-in-law, happiness has never come easily, and the letter she receives could destroy her fragile world. While, up at Melstead Hall, Julia has discovered that life she married into comes at a heavy price.
And halfway across the world, the indomitable Romily is longing for home. But with the Devereux family under threat, she finds herself confronting her own closely guarded secret. Can she save the day, and seize her own chance of happiness?
From the gorgeous Suffolk countryside to the sun-baked desert of Palm Springs, let Erica James sweep you away...
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Published April 16, 2020
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About the author
Erica James
57 books1,063 followersWith an insatiable appetite for other people's business, Erica James will readily strike up conversation with strangers in the hope of unearthing a useful gem for her writing. She finds it the best way to write authentic characters for her novels, although her two grown-up sons claim they will never recover from a childhood spent in a perpetual state of embarrassment at their mother's compulsion.
The author of nineteen bestselling novels, and the winner of the 2006 Romantic Novel of the Year Award, Erica divides her time between Suffolk and Lake Como in Italy.
The author of nineteen bestselling novels, and the winner of the 2006 Romantic Novel of the Year Award, Erica divides her time between Suffolk and Lake Como in Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
May 18, 2020
In 1962, in the Suffolk village of Melstead St Marys, several women receive anonymous poison pen letters. The first is to Evelyn Devereux, who with her war scarred husband Kit is about to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. It brings back sharply a secret Evelyn has kept for many years, since the war days and time at Bletchley Park. Kit’s sister, Hope, a bestselling children’s author also receives an anonymous letter that undermines her secure world. The third letter comes to Julia Devereux, who has married Arthur the eldest of the Devereux siblings. Only after the marriage did Julia start to realise what a heavy price she paid. Florence Minton, also receives a letter and doesn't tell her husband because she has her suspicions who it is from.
While these women are struggling with the guilt and upheaval caused by these letters, Romily Devereux –Temple, a crime fiction author and former pilot, is away from her beloved Island House and in Palm Springs, for a meeting about turning one of her novels into a film script. Romily us a person who is always trying to help others but as she tries to hold the family together, she is forced to confront the secret she has kept hidden.
The book starts off introducing a number of characters. For those of us who have read the previous book Coming Home to Island House, many of them are familiar. Most of the story takes place in 1962 with some flashbacks to times during the 1940s. All are clearly labelled so there is no confusion about what is happening when. Having watched the TV series on Bletchley Park it was interesting to come across it and the vital work that went on there in this book. Arthur, is still as he was in the earlier book, a complete mongrel. The story covers issues of abuse both physical and mental among other themes. Arthur is not the only one who is a nasty piece of work. It is interesting throughout to speculate about who the poison pen letters are from. There are others who initially appear to be one thing but grow and change as the story progresses.
Although here are a lot of characters in this family, including those adopted into the family, they are all very clearly distinguishable and well developed. Romily is my favourite, along with Stanley I hope he may get his own story at some point in the future. There was one aspect toward the end that I found a little convenient but given who it was I actually understood why the author elected to do as she did.
Once I started this story all I wanted to do was keep reading. With 508 pages it is a thick book but it never felt that way, because I was utterly engrossed in the story. When I had to put it down to deal with other life issues, I couldn’t wait to get back to it again. A book of family, secrets, cruelty, love, loyalty and friendship this is an engaging read that kept my interest throughout and I highly recommend it. So glad I bought this one.
While these women are struggling with the guilt and upheaval caused by these letters, Romily Devereux –Temple, a crime fiction author and former pilot, is away from her beloved Island House and in Palm Springs, for a meeting about turning one of her novels into a film script. Romily us a person who is always trying to help others but as she tries to hold the family together, she is forced to confront the secret she has kept hidden.
The book starts off introducing a number of characters. For those of us who have read the previous book Coming Home to Island House, many of them are familiar. Most of the story takes place in 1962 with some flashbacks to times during the 1940s. All are clearly labelled so there is no confusion about what is happening when. Having watched the TV series on Bletchley Park it was interesting to come across it and the vital work that went on there in this book. Arthur, is still as he was in the earlier book, a complete mongrel. The story covers issues of abuse both physical and mental among other themes. Arthur is not the only one who is a nasty piece of work. It is interesting throughout to speculate about who the poison pen letters are from. There are others who initially appear to be one thing but grow and change as the story progresses.
Although here are a lot of characters in this family, including those adopted into the family, they are all very clearly distinguishable and well developed. Romily is my favourite, along with Stanley I hope he may get his own story at some point in the future. There was one aspect toward the end that I found a little convenient but given who it was I actually understood why the author elected to do as she did.
Once I started this story all I wanted to do was keep reading. With 508 pages it is a thick book but it never felt that way, because I was utterly engrossed in the story. When I had to put it down to deal with other life issues, I couldn’t wait to get back to it again. A book of family, secrets, cruelty, love, loyalty and friendship this is an engaging read that kept my interest throughout and I highly recommend it. So glad I bought this one.
May 9, 2020
I hadn’t realised this latest book followed on from Coming Home to Island House so it took quite a few chapters to refamiliarise myself with the large cast of characters. It’s definitely not my favourite book of Erica’s as I found the individual storylines quite disjointed.
May 2, 2020
4.5 stars rounded up - Read my full review here: https://fictionophile.com/2020/04/22/...
With many points of view taken into account, this is a story of family. As in all families, there are those we love, those we like, and those we cannot abide. All are portrayed here. Central to the novel is a grand old Sufflolk manor house called “Island House”.When poison-pen letters are distributing throughout this idyllic English village, they sew the seeds of doubt and suspicion upon their recipients – many of whom are members, or are in some way related to the Deveraux family. Family secrets are slowly revealed…
But will the Deveraux’s be able to endure their secrets scrutinized in the light of day? Many generations of the Deveraux family are drawn together after a tragic automobile accident. Will justice prevail?
MY THOUGHTS
I must confess that at first I was cast adrift by this novel due to the vast amount of characters. My attention span has been less than optimum since this pandemic has taken the world by storm. As I gradually became more familiar with the characters – and how they related to one another – I was again cast adrift, but in a different way, I was immersed in the family, the story, and the idyllic setting.
Told for the most part in 1962, the story has several flashbacks to the war years. Romily Deveraux-Temple, a mystery novelist, was also a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the war. Her story was fascinating and she is the matriarchal figure that ties the many threads of the story together.
Evelyn Deveraux, a mathematician, was also heavily involved in the war effort. She was a code breaker at Bletchley Park. A fact that she has kept secret.
Past mistakes and past loves resurface adding interest and suspense to what is already an absorbing family saga.
Before reading this, my first Erica James novel, I hadn’t realized that “Letters from the Past” is in fact a sequel to an earlier novel, “Coming Home to Island House” which is set during the war years, some two decades earlier. This in no way marred my enjoyment of this novel, but if I had read the other book first I might not have had so much trouble initially with the myriad characters. Rest assured this book reads fine as a stand-alone.
With elements of historical fiction, romance, and even mystery, this novel will be greatly appreciated by all who enjoy compelling women’s fiction. Highly recommended!
With many points of view taken into account, this is a story of family. As in all families, there are those we love, those we like, and those we cannot abide. All are portrayed here. Central to the novel is a grand old Sufflolk manor house called “Island House”.When poison-pen letters are distributing throughout this idyllic English village, they sew the seeds of doubt and suspicion upon their recipients – many of whom are members, or are in some way related to the Deveraux family. Family secrets are slowly revealed…
But will the Deveraux’s be able to endure their secrets scrutinized in the light of day? Many generations of the Deveraux family are drawn together after a tragic automobile accident. Will justice prevail?
MY THOUGHTS
I must confess that at first I was cast adrift by this novel due to the vast amount of characters. My attention span has been less than optimum since this pandemic has taken the world by storm. As I gradually became more familiar with the characters – and how they related to one another – I was again cast adrift, but in a different way, I was immersed in the family, the story, and the idyllic setting.
Told for the most part in 1962, the story has several flashbacks to the war years. Romily Deveraux-Temple, a mystery novelist, was also a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the war. Her story was fascinating and she is the matriarchal figure that ties the many threads of the story together.
Evelyn Deveraux, a mathematician, was also heavily involved in the war effort. She was a code breaker at Bletchley Park. A fact that she has kept secret.
Past mistakes and past loves resurface adding interest and suspense to what is already an absorbing family saga.
Before reading this, my first Erica James novel, I hadn’t realized that “Letters from the Past” is in fact a sequel to an earlier novel, “Coming Home to Island House” which is set during the war years, some two decades earlier. This in no way marred my enjoyment of this novel, but if I had read the other book first I might not have had so much trouble initially with the myriad characters. Rest assured this book reads fine as a stand-alone.
With elements of historical fiction, romance, and even mystery, this novel will be greatly appreciated by all who enjoy compelling women’s fiction. Highly recommended!
April 19, 2020
This was another wonderful, absorbing read from this talented author, which had a bit of an old fashioned feel to it as it involves letter writing- though not the type of letters you’d want to receive!
I absolutely loved the gorgeous sounding country setting for this book. The descriptions were so wonderfully vivid that I felt I could perfectly see them in my mind. I found myself wishing that I lived in such a beautiful place, especially as it had the lovely close knit community too.
The poisoned letters helped create a great starting point for the story and helped allow a lot of the other storylines to naturally develop which I thought was very clever. There are definitely a lot of secrets being hidden and I so enjoyed following the different characters and finding out about the skeletons hiding in their closet.
The mystery of who was behind the mystery was an intriguing one and I must admit one that kept me guessing throughout the book. It was great fun trying to figure out who it was and why they were doing it.
Overall I thought this was a very absorbing, hugely enjoyable read which I will be recommending to everyone. It’s actually the sequel to a previous book which I hadn’t realised but everything you need to know is explained in the story so it can be read as a standalone.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.
I absolutely loved the gorgeous sounding country setting for this book. The descriptions were so wonderfully vivid that I felt I could perfectly see them in my mind. I found myself wishing that I lived in such a beautiful place, especially as it had the lovely close knit community too.
The poisoned letters helped create a great starting point for the story and helped allow a lot of the other storylines to naturally develop which I thought was very clever. There are definitely a lot of secrets being hidden and I so enjoyed following the different characters and finding out about the skeletons hiding in their closet.
The mystery of who was behind the mystery was an intriguing one and I must admit one that kept me guessing throughout the book. It was great fun trying to figure out who it was and why they were doing it.
Overall I thought this was a very absorbing, hugely enjoyable read which I will be recommending to everyone. It’s actually the sequel to a previous book which I hadn’t realised but everything you need to know is explained in the story so it can be read as a standalone.
Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.
July 30, 2020
Exhausting
I usually love Erica James but I found this book exhausting. Trying to remember which character belonged to which family & whom was doing what with whom spoiled it for me but perhaps I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
I usually love Erica James but I found this book exhausting. Trying to remember which character belonged to which family & whom was doing what with whom spoiled it for me but perhaps I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
October 7, 2021
James combines one part historical fiction (eg.,Blechley Park, the Air Transport Auxillary and WWII); two parts romance; and three parts evil skullduggery in her charming tale of a family in the U.K. coming together to celebrate the longevity of a couple’s marriage. James includes a slew of characters all loosely related with interesting backstories. My biggest disappointment was her romance twists. They defied human logic. Oh well. It was an easy read on a very long flight.
May 29, 2022
Семейната сага от „Завръщане в Айлънд Хаус“ продължава в тази книга, като действието се развива през 1962 г., двадесет години след събитията в първата книга.
Авторката въвежда в повествованието много герои и аз дълго време се мъчех да ги запомня, а впоследствие на моменти ми беше трудно да се сетя кой кой е. Историята е интересна, изпълнена с интриги, любов, подкрепа, нежелана бременност и трудности, като в центъра на всичко отново беше Ромили. Тук научаваме нейната история по време на войната, когато е била летец и нещастието да остане измамена от любимия мъж. Децата от предната книга вече са пораснали и водят свой самостоятелен живот. Анонимните писма бяха неприятни и злонамерени. Те накараха много жени да се съмняват в съпрузите си и замалко да разбият идиличния им семеен живот.
Книгата остана недовършена за мен, както първата и предполагам, че авторката пише продължение. Цялата история е за не повече от три звезди, това е моето усещане и на първата „Завръщане в Айлънд Хаус“ съм дала толкова.
Авторката въвежда в повествованието много герои и аз дълго време се мъчех да ги запомня, а впоследствие на моменти ми беше трудно да се сетя кой кой е. Историята е интересна, изпълнена с интриги, любов, подкрепа, нежелана бременност и трудности, като в центъра на всичко отново беше Ромили. Тук научаваме нейната история по време на войната, когато е била летец и нещастието да остане измамена от любимия мъж. Децата от предната книга вече са пораснали и водят свой самостоятелен живот. Анонимните писма бяха неприятни и злонамерени. Те накараха много жени да се съмняват в съпрузите си и замалко да разбият идиличния им семеен живот.
Книгата остана недовършена за мен, както първата и предполагам, че авторката пише продължение. Цялата история е за не повече от три звезди, това е моето усещане и на първата „Завръщане в Айлънд Хаус“ съм дала толкова.
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April 17, 2020A Sequel to Coming Home to Island House - Set in Suffolk and Bletchley Park
Visit the locations in the novel here
Visit the locations in the novel here
February 10, 2023
This book is a sequel to Coming home from island house.
The story is told from the perspectives of multiple characters. It can get a bit confusing at the beginning remembering who everyone is.
As a huge fan of this author, this book didn’t disappoint me. It was written very well as all her books are.
I enjoyed the mystery that was the subject of the story.
An enjoyable read
The story is told from the perspectives of multiple characters. It can get a bit confusing at the beginning remembering who everyone is.
As a huge fan of this author, this book didn’t disappoint me. It was written very well as all her books are.
I enjoyed the mystery that was the subject of the story.
An enjoyable read
February 15, 2021
What an amazing narrator! The best I've come across so far in any audiobook from Audible, even better than Simon Vance, who does an amazing job with A Dance to the Music of Times.
The book was a nice follow-up to the Coming Home to Island House which took place just before and during WW2, and it is heartwarming and entertaining and the good guys are indeed very good and the bad guys who are absolutely in the minority are bad, but not incomprehensibly so. I like the very positive attitude to life which permeates both novels.
The book was a nice follow-up to the Coming Home to Island House which took place just before and during WW2, and it is heartwarming and entertaining and the good guys are indeed very good and the bad guys who are absolutely in the minority are bad, but not incomprehensibly so. I like the very positive attitude to life which permeates both novels.
May 9, 2021
With lots of characters at the beginning it took a few chapters before settling into a captivating story, with some very strong family values.
April 5, 2020
This is one of those books which is packed full of everything you could possible want from a story to sweep you away.
Told from the different perspectives of various different characters you are thrown into getting to know a lot of people and quickly. I did have to go back and reread who everyone was as I was a bit lost and felt as I had not read the first novel where these characters are introduced I was at a disadvantage. However once I did this I got a sense of how they were related and something about their past I was able to involve myself fully with the book.
As letters from the here and now start landing on doormats across Melstead St Mary, you almost wish that Miss Marple would appear to solve it all for these people and make her wry observations about people's actions and reactions.
Evelyn, celebrating twenty years of marriage to Kit, is shocked to receive one which brings doubt on her actions from the past and questions about what she did during the war.
Julia, weak, feeble and under the command of her husband receives one, but she knows she has probably done something wrong anyway, she has spent all her life in repentance.
Hope, driven by her work, driven to escape when she receives a letter is driven into another state. One that everyone desires she will come out of.
Romily, the matriarch of this family. Bringing them all together, keeping them all apart where necessary and trying to live her own life.
Full of secrets, mysteries and love this really is a book which did indeed sweep me away from rural Suffolk, London, Oxford and Palm Springs. It has characters to love, loathe, trust and distrust. It made me change my mind about some and know I was completely right about others. This was a book which I invested in and it gave me an abundance of returns. Thank you Erica James, wonderful storytelling.
Told from the different perspectives of various different characters you are thrown into getting to know a lot of people and quickly. I did have to go back and reread who everyone was as I was a bit lost and felt as I had not read the first novel where these characters are introduced I was at a disadvantage. However once I did this I got a sense of how they were related and something about their past I was able to involve myself fully with the book.
As letters from the here and now start landing on doormats across Melstead St Mary, you almost wish that Miss Marple would appear to solve it all for these people and make her wry observations about people's actions and reactions.
Evelyn, celebrating twenty years of marriage to Kit, is shocked to receive one which brings doubt on her actions from the past and questions about what she did during the war.
Julia, weak, feeble and under the command of her husband receives one, but she knows she has probably done something wrong anyway, she has spent all her life in repentance.
Hope, driven by her work, driven to escape when she receives a letter is driven into another state. One that everyone desires she will come out of.
Romily, the matriarch of this family. Bringing them all together, keeping them all apart where necessary and trying to live her own life.
Full of secrets, mysteries and love this really is a book which did indeed sweep me away from rural Suffolk, London, Oxford and Palm Springs. It has characters to love, loathe, trust and distrust. It made me change my mind about some and know I was completely right about others. This was a book which I invested in and it gave me an abundance of returns. Thank you Erica James, wonderful storytelling.
July 13, 2020
To be honest, I really don’t know why the author felt the need to write a sequel to ‘Coming Home To Island House’ (which I loved by the way), as it was a lot of the same plot, but this time happening to the grown up children. The characters were stiff and staid and one dimensional. Also, Romily’s and Red’s romance was too much Mills & Boon style for me. Erica James is one of my favourite authors, but sadly this book was not for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2020
Awful book and I usually enjoy Erica James. 16 characters introduced in the first 50 pages, far too much back story and too much jumping around, and far too many characters with amazing back stories.....just not believable. Many characters were just caricatures or cliches with no real depth. She writes about the 1960s like they’re living in grand houses in the 1930s. Very gushy on the romance side - more Barbara Cartland than Erica James. Pass the bucket. Disappointing and I gave up halfway through - life is too short for bad books and I really couldn’t be bothered with any of the characters.
April 24, 2020
Letters can be powerful things, and in this book they take on special resonance as from early in the book they threaten relationships. This novel is actually a sequel to a previous book concerning this very extended family, but I read it as a standalone. It means that the first section shows several people going about their lives but it is quickly revealed the relationships between the people who are nearly all in Suffolk, England, where the central house in the story is to be found. Island House has evidently been home at some point to many of the characters in the novel, though its owner, Romily Deveraux- Temple is in America at the beginning of the book. The time is autumn of 1962, when war is a memory from childhood for many of the characters. Evelyn is married to Kit, and has two children who are at Cambridge University. His sister, Hope, is married to Evelyn’s brother, Edmund, with an adopted daughter Annelise who is a junior fellow in Oxford. Kit and Hope’s other brother, Arthur is the permanently angry and aggressive husband of Julia, father to Ralph and Julia’s son Charles. Julia, Hope and Evelyn together with Florence, Romily’s housekeeper, all receive unsettling anonymous letters. The book is so well constructed that all the characters have their story told, but Romily’s story is once more big enough to encompass all the others. I was pleased and intrigued to have the opportunity to read and review this extremely engaging book of family and friends.
Melstead St Mary is a small village, where generations of people have worked together and relationships have become complex over the year. Evelyn’s marriage to Kit during the War followed his severe injuries on a ship, and her own work and experiences at Bletchley Park. When she receives a letter which questions her children’s parentage, it sets off all sorts of memories. Hope is a successful author of children books and is driven to work, while her husband is the local doctor. Edward’s dedication to the people of the village makes a letter’s suggestion of his multiple infidelities possible to Hope’s already confused mind. Julia is already in an abusive relationship as Arthur is excessively controlling and dominating, so a letter which alleges her inadequacy is profoundly disturbing. Meanwhile, Romily is in America meeting a mysterious writer who may work on a film adaptation of one of her books. Red St Clair is a man who has an attitude which she finds annoying and upsetting, but there is something which she finds more attractive than she can understand. Many storylines come together as desperation and drama come to a head during a Christmas which brings the area to a temporary halt.
This book takes complex and three dimensional characters and situations and presents them in a linear way which develops ideas and associations so cleverly that the story is satisfactorily explored. There are moments of high drama, and painful memories here, but all are dealt with in a sensitive and appealing way. I was really drawn into the story and I found every character, even relatively minor ones, have realistic and understandable motives for what they do and say.This is a mature novel which offers enormous insight into relationships which exist outside strict conventions and expectations. I recommend this book as a wonderfully engaging family story.
Melstead St Mary is a small village, where generations of people have worked together and relationships have become complex over the year. Evelyn’s marriage to Kit during the War followed his severe injuries on a ship, and her own work and experiences at Bletchley Park. When she receives a letter which questions her children’s parentage, it sets off all sorts of memories. Hope is a successful author of children books and is driven to work, while her husband is the local doctor. Edward’s dedication to the people of the village makes a letter’s suggestion of his multiple infidelities possible to Hope’s already confused mind. Julia is already in an abusive relationship as Arthur is excessively controlling and dominating, so a letter which alleges her inadequacy is profoundly disturbing. Meanwhile, Romily is in America meeting a mysterious writer who may work on a film adaptation of one of her books. Red St Clair is a man who has an attitude which she finds annoying and upsetting, but there is something which she finds more attractive than she can understand. Many storylines come together as desperation and drama come to a head during a Christmas which brings the area to a temporary halt.
This book takes complex and three dimensional characters and situations and presents them in a linear way which develops ideas and associations so cleverly that the story is satisfactorily explored. There are moments of high drama, and painful memories here, but all are dealt with in a sensitive and appealing way. I was really drawn into the story and I found every character, even relatively minor ones, have realistic and understandable motives for what they do and say.This is a mature novel which offers enormous insight into relationships which exist outside strict conventions and expectations. I recommend this book as a wonderfully engaging family story.
April 26, 2021
Time taken to read - 3 days
Pages - 508
Publisher - Orion
Source - Bought from Amazon
Blurb from Goodreads
With its winding high street lined with a greengrocers, post office, pub and church, Melstead St Mary is the perfect English village. Neighbours look out for neighbours, and few things trouble the serene surface of the community.
But when residents start to receive anonymous letters containing secret information about their pasts - secrets that no one else is meant to know - life in Melstead St Mary is about to change, possibly forever...
My Review
In a small village everyone looks out for each other or do they? Families are close or are they? Melstead St Mary is a tightknit community and we have a handful of main characters we visit. Evelyn is sorting a big party for her wedding anniversary, Hope is a successful children's author, Julia has married into the family and noone really gets close to her. Romily is the glue that holds the family together, she is also an author and script writer. They all have busy lives and all have something in common, they have been targeted for poison pen letters.
The book took a wee bit to settle into just because there are so many characters and we flip between them and some of their past events. I did enjoy the characters, the stories, how interwoven they are and some belters of secrets some of them had, what family doesn't.
There are some heart warming moments, some shocking themes within the book, abuse, coercion, love, relationships, doubt. When the book flips to some of the past of the characters we learn more about who they are and how strong some of them are. I do love a strong female character and went back and forth on some of them. I liked it but didn't love it, I have read this author before and will read her again, 3.5/5 for me.
Pages - 508
Publisher - Orion
Source - Bought from Amazon
Blurb from Goodreads
With its winding high street lined with a greengrocers, post office, pub and church, Melstead St Mary is the perfect English village. Neighbours look out for neighbours, and few things trouble the serene surface of the community.
But when residents start to receive anonymous letters containing secret information about their pasts - secrets that no one else is meant to know - life in Melstead St Mary is about to change, possibly forever...
My Review
In a small village everyone looks out for each other or do they? Families are close or are they? Melstead St Mary is a tightknit community and we have a handful of main characters we visit. Evelyn is sorting a big party for her wedding anniversary, Hope is a successful children's author, Julia has married into the family and noone really gets close to her. Romily is the glue that holds the family together, she is also an author and script writer. They all have busy lives and all have something in common, they have been targeted for poison pen letters.
The book took a wee bit to settle into just because there are so many characters and we flip between them and some of their past events. I did enjoy the characters, the stories, how interwoven they are and some belters of secrets some of them had, what family doesn't.
There are some heart warming moments, some shocking themes within the book, abuse, coercion, love, relationships, doubt. When the book flips to some of the past of the characters we learn more about who they are and how strong some of them are. I do love a strong female character and went back and forth on some of them. I liked it but didn't love it, I have read this author before and will read her again, 3.5/5 for me.
January 29, 2023
As a long time fan of the author I had been looking forward to reading this sequel to Coming Home to Island House. Letters From the Past is a heart rending story with the return of an extensive cast of characters.
The reader catches up with the extended Devereux family nearly twenty years later in the early sixties. Every characters story is told with flashback chapters to the war years. Erica James does a skilful task of bringing everything together in such a way that makes for an absorbing read. Poison Pen letters received by various family members bring all sorts of issues and secrets to light, causing much trouble and stress.
To be honest although it is not necessary to have read the previous novel, it will add to your enjoyment if you have done so. I am now left wanting to know what happens to all the characters next, another volume maybe? Recommended to fans of the author and those readers that love a family saga.
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The reader catches up with the extended Devereux family nearly twenty years later in the early sixties. Every characters story is told with flashback chapters to the war years. Erica James does a skilful task of bringing everything together in such a way that makes for an absorbing read. Poison Pen letters received by various family members bring all sorts of issues and secrets to light, causing much trouble and stress.
To be honest although it is not necessary to have read the previous novel, it will add to your enjoyment if you have done so. I am now left wanting to know what happens to all the characters next, another volume maybe? Recommended to fans of the author and those readers that love a family saga.
https://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogsp...
October 7, 2020
I was a bit disappointed with this but carried on reading it to the end. After a few pages I realised that I needed a family tree, even though I had read Coming Home to Island House. I am not a great fan of multiple threads and time lines and found this made the book disjointed, trying again to see where the character fitted into the story. The book was particularly slow in the middle , and really too long overall. At the end there were enough open ends to wonder if a trilogy is really in the author's plans. I preferred Erica's early contemporary novels where the characters really were authentic. Some of these were too shallow.
May 20, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the characters from Coming Home to Island House, the Devereux family, set around 20 years after the first book. The mystery of who was sending the poison pen letters and just how they seemed to know everyone's darkest secrets kept me gripped throughout. The relationships between all the characters was great to read about. Most of them were such likeable people with one notable exception. It was a very satisfying ending with all the strands of the various different lives resolved in a way that certainly made me smile.
November 28, 2022
It’s no surprise that I loved this book so much. This is the second in what I believe to be a dualolagy. The first book left me longing for more and I was not disappointed. Set 20 years after the last book we meet characters that were little previously and go back to those that we know. Romily is still my favourite character but I found myself in love with other new ones. This book was incredible.
July 10, 2020
This is different from books I would normally read, but really enjoyed it. It was really interesting that each chapter was from the perspective of a different character. Also the way it moved from the Second World War to the early sixties to explain characters lives was particularly clever.
August 11, 2020
I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. I found it really hard to get into. I haven't read the first one, this one can be read as a stand alone. I wouldn't read the first one though as I struggled with this one. It has intrigued me to read more books about Bletchley park so that is a plus and the small part this book featured about a characters time there was the best bit for me.
June 7, 2022
Letters From The Past is a lovely sequel to Erica James’s novel Coming Home to Island House. Set in 1962 and narrated by several of the main characters the reader is reunited with the Devereaux family and their close friends. When a series of poison pen letters start arriving, family trust and secrets begin to cause doubt and despair. A thoroughly engaging story from one of my favourite authors.
June 23, 2022
I was so glad that there was a sequel to Coming Home to Island House as I enjoyed it so much, and Letters from the Past was fabulous. Erica James is a very clever author and the continuing story of the Devereux family was filled with drama romance and secrets.
August 3, 2020
Really enjoyable
It was so lovely to pop back in time to catch up with all the characters from Coming Home to Island House. Another great read from Erica James, my third book of hers now. What should be next?
It was so lovely to pop back in time to catch up with all the characters from Coming Home to Island House. Another great read from Erica James, my third book of hers now. What should be next?
March 24, 2021
An enjoyable read . Red was such an outstanding character , I really liked him.
I liked the mystery of the poison letters .
I liked the mystery of the poison letters .
May 26, 2021
It took me quite a while to get into this book, which is unusual for an Erica James one. However the further I got into the book, the more I enjoyed it.
June 18, 2024
I heard this audiobook on the Libby App.
Its a family story going back to 1962, if you love long - inter connecting characters.
Everyone is getting together to celebrate a 20th Wedding anniversary.
In the midst of this some of the women are getting poison pen letters, about their spouses and their lives.
There is drama, romance, revenge and secrets in this book.
It gets a bit dragged on sometimes but overall a nice story with all characters getting to play their part.
Its a family story going back to 1962, if you love long - inter connecting characters.
Everyone is getting together to celebrate a 20th Wedding anniversary.
In the midst of this some of the women are getting poison pen letters, about their spouses and their lives.
There is drama, romance, revenge and secrets in this book.
It gets a bit dragged on sometimes but overall a nice story with all characters getting to play their part.
June 30, 2021
This was an Audible book for me and more than once I wished I had it in hard copy - I needed to check back on who was who quite often at the start and that’s hard when you are listening to a story. Having said that, I like that Erica James doesn’t keep repeating information and respects her readers’ concentration.
I haven’t read Coming Home to Island House and was unaware this was a sequel until I read other reviews - it really didn’t matter, fortunately.
I did enjoy it overall even though it was,in many ways, cliched and predictable. That made it a comfortable listen but, although I looked forward to the next part I never sat in the car on the drive to hear it, which I do when I’m really gripped!
I haven’t read Coming Home to Island House and was unaware this was a sequel until I read other reviews - it really didn’t matter, fortunately.
I did enjoy it overall even though it was,in many ways, cliched and predictable. That made it a comfortable listen but, although I looked forward to the next part I never sat in the car on the drive to hear it, which I do when I’m really gripped!
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