The Last Letter from Your Lover: A Novel

It's official: I am a Jojo Moyes' newest ardent fan. The first novel of hers that I read was 'Me before you' and I loved it. I was gutted by it, but I loved it. It stayed with me long after I put it down. And this novel has done the same. I stayed up way too late because I could not stop reading it, and the ending came way too soon. Moyes writes such vivid characters - they leap off the page and get under your skin, and you feel like you know them a little at the end. There are two stories here, interweaving and forty years apart. One is Ellie's story - a young writer working for a top newspaper, coming undone a little as a doomed affair with a married man begins unraveling and she finds herself unable to let go, or move on without him. Looking for something else in the archives she stumbles across a letter, written from a man to his lover in 1960, and she is drawn into their story - or what their story seems to be. The letter speaks of him waiting for her to run away with him. Ellie wonders if she did. As she wonders Moyes takes us back to 1960, to Jennifer Stirling, waking up in hospital after a traumatic car accident with little memory about either the accident or her life before it. As she tries to find her life and her memories again she chances across a letter, hidden in a novel. It's a love letter, passionate and powerful, and she begins to remember the man who wrote it, and their love affair. A passionate and tormented love story unfolds through letters and the events that brought Jennifer and Anthony together, and this story is brought into the present day, to Ellie and the letters she has found, from Anthony to Jennifer. Their story resonates with Ellie because she too is caught up in her own tormented affair, and she finds herself wanting to know what happened to them, perhaps as a way of looking into the future and seeing an end to her own story. The ending isn't quite what she expects, for herself or for Anthony and Jennifer, but then, the best endings are perhaps not always the ones we expect, and life has a funny way of working out. I really enjoyed the movement between the two stories, and the way they wove together. The love letters are so beautifully written - I don't know anyone who would not want to receive at least one letter like that. Unlike 'Me before you' I was not gutted by this story. I was moved and swept up and transported to London and the Riviera and into the lives of these characters, and that, for me, is the mark of an excellent storyteller. I'm downloading the next book now.

A love story that spans across the years! Great characters and a story that keeps you intrigued. You will be rooting for a happy ending! This would make a great chick flick!

Occasionally you read a book that leaves you breathless and tearful with satisfaction. The Last Letter from Your Lover swept me away. I was torn between an inability to stop reading it and not wanting it to end. It is a love story at its heart, but it’s also a lesson about not settling for less in your life. A messaging and encouragement to pursue your dreams regardless of the cost. It's also a reminder that the inescapable truth is that "Man plans, and God laughs." It's hard to escape the fickle finger of fate thing, being at the right place at the wrong time, that always plays a role in our lives. Yes, destiny.Jojo, and I call her Jojo because I’m such a fangirl and love her books. As an author myself, I admire her work, and I’m inspired by her. Without further ado: Jojo has written a story about a gripping love affair. But no matter how deep the passion between our two lovers, Jennifer Stirling and Anthony O’Hare, they can’t seem to find a way open to each other. The timing never seems to be right. That finger of fate I mentioned earlier, steps in and places insurmountable obstacles in their paths. We, the reader, hold our breath, praying that this time these two people who are meant for each other will find their way.Much of the book takes place in 1960s London and must be viewed by the mores of that time. The story spans the years of Jennifer and Antony’s lives, shifting back and forth in time. Anthony's a crackerjack international affairs journalist, and Jennifer is the wife of a wealthy industrialist. As the title suggests, it all begins with a letter, an urgent, expressive, love missive that will have you falling in love with the writer. If you really want to understand what great storytelling is about, I suggest you read The Last Letter from Your Lover and fall in love.

A friend recommended the Netflix movie but I wanted to read the book first, which I did. I have read really bad reviews here, mainly about the story moving back and forth between the 60s and 2003 and being difficult to understand. Well, that’s what I liked the most about the book! It keeps you interested in what’s going to happen afterwards and it had the most unexpected twists and turns. Since my copy didn’t have photos of the movie on the cover, I visualized the characters as described in the novel. I won’t deny that the introduction of the character of Ellie was kind of shocking until everything fell into place. As an incorrigible romantic, I was dreading that Jennifer and Anthony’s story didn’t have a happy ending, until Ellie contacts Anthony’s son, then I knew and couldn’t put the book down until the end. Some people here said the book was immoral and the characters unlikable. I have news for them: there were marriages like Jennifer’s in that time. There are womanizers like Anthony that fall in love and change. There are twists of fate both in real life and in literature (Romeo and Juliet?). Jennifer had an affair but didn’t leave her daughter. Human beings have virtues and flaws since the beginning of times. Both Jennifer and Ellie seem to lack confidence in themselves and to have low self-esteem but they’re able to snap out of that and have a meaningful life. The movie is another story, beginning by the cast of characters. I confess I haven’t finished it but I’m definitely not enjoying it.

Jumped around too much, it was hard, as the reader, to keep up. Moyes' other books were written better, and I have read them all