Twenty-Seven Letters to My Daughter

by Ella Ward

When death is dancing closer than you'd like, what becomes important? What do you need to tell your child? And how do you want to be remembered? A beautiful, tender, funny and poignant guide on how to really live, from a mother to her daughter.

Ella Ward comes from a long line of irrepressibly charming raconteurs, letter-writers, storytellers and people who 'quite like giving toasts at parties'. And so, a few years ago, when Ella was 36 years old, with a husband and a young daughter, and was told that she had a rare cancer and might die, she decided that death wasn't going to stand in the way of her mothering her child. As Ella's treatment for her cancer began, she started drafting letters to her daughter. To tell her about life, love, death, the importance of cotton knickers and - above all - her family. The kind of people who weren't dissuaded by little things like cancer. Or war. Or loss. Or a charging elephant. This is a story of what we inherit, and how we become ourselves. This is the story of a family - a glorious, funny, exotic and gutsy family - but it's really a story about how your attitude to life, can shape your life. A time-travelling memoir from one mother, and the generations that came before her - these are twenty-seven letters about the good, the bad, the magical and the whole damn thing. Jaunty, brave, moving and immensely appealing, this is a gloriously endearing inspirational story in the tradition of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Last Lecture ... although with slightly more dry martinis.

Genres: Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2023

Reviews

[Ella Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look - I'm giving my own book five stars. If you saw how much paper I used writing this thing, you'd give yourself five stars too.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir/family legacy/series of love letters is bold. And brave and heartbreaking and utterly hilarious. I’ve not ever read something so exquisitely funny whilst at the same time being also vulnerable. In a series of 27 letters peppered with 188 lessons this book feels like a manifesto to good living and good loving even though there’s an acknowledgement to not have it all figured out (such a breath of fresh air! Someone who actually MEANS it!). Whilst directed at her daughter, I found myself dwelling a lot on what Ward had to share especially when it came to love: “tell your friends WHY you love them”, self love (I’ll be thinking of this one for a long time), love for and of your romantic partner. Ultimately. how important it is to model good love, to talk about good love, to show sexy letters between your great grandparents - such a celebration! I’m weepy, inspired and grateful for such courage.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book that will capture the heart of anyone who reads it including mine. Ella Ward has written a memorable memoir about family, love and loss. Highly recommended.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review will be added to my bookstagram (hopefully early next week)
https://www.instagram.com/maggie_andt...

There really isn't anything bad I can say about this book. It made me sad, happy and inspired all at the same time!

[Emma Jo-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you rate a book more than 5 stars? I wish I could. This book is raw and honest and very beautiful. I was fine until the last chunk of pages, they bought me totally undone. Up until that bit I was like ‘this is a nice book’… After that I knew it was an excellent book but also, the pages were wet!

It’s funny, and poignant, and I can’t wait to see what this author writes next. You are planning another book, right?

[Yaël Blinco · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about love, life, death and family. Written after Ella was diagnosed with cancer, of the anal variety, 27 Letters is ostensibly letters to her daughter, full of life advice, but it is so much more. Read it. It will make you cry. It will make you laugh. It will warm the very cockles of your heart. Spoiler (not really): Ella is still very much alive and kicking. Thank the gods for that!

[Maz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's such a hard position to think you won't be there for your child as they grow, especially beyond the obvious big events. This book really made me consider so many lessons we learn by osmosis, as well as by many smaller experiences, not just the huge moments of life.

[Kath McQuoid · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book but it just wasn't grabbing me....I skipped through quite a lot of it just to finish it.

[Alycia Vasilangos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just beautiful. Ella paints pictures with her words, conjures scents & music like a magician. A beautiful gift of a book that had me sobbing over the last few pages & captured my heart. ❤️

[Aleisha Santuccione · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a moving, personal and touching memoir. As a new parent, Ella Ward related the experience of motherhood in a way I hadn't experienced yet. I feel understood, and like I've made a new friend in the author just through the way she relates her life. Thank you for sharing your life with us, Ella.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first chapter of the book broke my heart - this poor, poor girl who desperately wants to be there for, and to raise her daughter, and so leaves letters to do the job if she passes away. GULP…tears. What a beautiful gift to her daughter but her whole family - to document into a (very) funny, inspiring, memoir. And just quietly, the amount I have in common with Ella was personally such a bizarre coincidence- half American, lived in London over the same period, same age, first children the same age, works in advertising/marketing. Ella - you did a great job. I loved your book.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly beautifully written - and considering the pathos inherent in its theme, incredibly uplifting. I gobbled it up in virtually one sitting, while still stopping to pause and re-read the way she describes a sunny afternoon, a moment in time or the smell and taste of an experience. In here are important life lessons, beautifully worded. It's a gorgeous read for both those with daughters (or sons) or simply anyone who loves to stop and smell the climbing roses of life.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book. I don't know what I can say other than read it. Ella's way with words and the lessons she gives are something else. Absolutely loved every part of this book.

[Michelle Barraclough · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book and dip into regularly when I want to be inspired, not only by Ella's words of glorious wisdom, but by her gorgeous writing (or to have a little cry!)

The perfect book to give as a gift to the people you care about, too. Highly recommend.

[Vanessa K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant.

When I wasn’t crying the book felt like a warm hug.

Beautifully written. If I didn’t have a baby to look after I would have read it on one sitting.

[Denise Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://denisenewtonwrites.com/?p=3526

27 Letters to my Daughter
Ella Ward

I fell in love with this book while reading its opening pages. It ticks so many boxes for me: family history, family stories, personal challenges and insights, humour…I know it will be one of my ‘stand-out-reads’ of 2022.

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ella really has a way with words and reading this book felt like having a conversation with a friend. While on the surface writing letters to your daughter while facing a life-threatening illness may sound a bit morbid this book is a beautiful gift to her daughter of their family history and life lessons learned along the way. I'd have loved to have been at a family dinner party with Ella's extended family (much like at the very end of the book)
(this book didn't take me long - it was just my lunchtime book)

[Mia Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't love this nearly as much as l expected to. I thought it would be really insightful and beautiful. I think it would have been if it was my mum writing it. But its not. Its a woman I didn't know in a happy marriage writing to her beautiful daughter
I think I'm in the wrong stage of life to read this and really appreciate it and soak it up.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sweet book that made me emotional. An easy read with some good life lessons

[Tobi Weepers · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. It became a bit contrived. The use of sweet loving nick names and finding meaning behind everything. I understand why they did it but it wasn't my thing

[Mia Ferreira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many life lessons were so light - keep tweezers in your car - and there was a lot of personal family history in the form of various parts of old letters from grand parents… I found it difficult to relate or connect with.

[Marianne Rivett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t for me. Turned into a bit of a hate read. I found it all to be a bit contrived and “know-it-all”. I have no doubt that others will love it but it didn’t work for me.