10 Epistolary Novels for Literary Letter Lovers

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

A execution successful a tiny municipality leads 2 instrumentality students to benignant done a heap of emails, substance messages, and tribunal filings successful hopes of proving that their lawsuit has been wrongly convicted and uncovering the existent killer. Fans of Agatha Christie volition dive into this modern twist connected the small-town mystery, wherever everyone is simply a suspect.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Red and Blue are spies connected other sides of a never-ending warfare who go pen pals aft Red finds a mocking enactment from Blue amongst the war’s wreckage. Red expects excitement to travel from their written taunts betwixt 1 different but doesn’t expect to autumn successful emotion done their letters. This communicative mixes subject fabrication and poetic penning for a twist connected the time-bending genre.

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A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

In Tokyo, 16-year-old Nao has decided to extremity her life, but first, she intends to chronicle the beingness of her Buddhist nun great-grandmother successful a diary. Across the Pacific, Ruth has recovered Nao’s dairy aft tsunami debris washes ashore adjacent her house. As Ruth begins reading, she becomes obsessed with the communicative of Nao’s grandma and with uncovering retired astir Nao’s fate. Despite the dense taxable matter, this is simply a beauteous publication that is some haunting and hopeful.

Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay

Told done the letters betwixt Joan Bergstrom, a young writer successful confederate California, and Imogen Fortier, a columnist who lives connected an land successful the Pacific Northwest, this publication spans mid-century America, serving arsenic some a chronicle of the clip and a emotion missive to food. Through their correspondence, the women commercialized breathtaking caller ingredients, parse events of the time, and make a genuine relationship that allows them some to blossom successful their lives.

The Woman successful the Library by Sulari Gentill

A publication wrong a book, wrong letters, wrong a mystery. When a woman’s shriek shatters the soundlessness of a library, it sets successful question a bid of convulsive events. While the country is cleared, 4 strangers who hap to beryllium sitting astatine the aforesaid array statesman bonding with 1 another, not knowing 1 of them is the slayer successful the execution they conscionable witnessed.

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti

This is simply a must-read for anyone fascinated by the satellite of personage ghostwriting. At her ELLE mag internship, Lora Ricci meets Cat Wolff, an exertion who is girl of a mogul. As the 2 go close, Lora opens up to Cat astir her fiscal troubles, and Cat makes an offer: driblet retired of NYU and go her ghostwriter, implicit with surviving successful a suite astatine the Plaza. As Lora delves deeper into Cat’s world, she begins to spot that the glitz and glamour fell an illicit world. Told done correspondence, quality articles, and FBI reports, this is simply a fast-paced read.

An Island astatine War by Deborah Carr

It’s June 1940 and Estelle Le Maistre has been near down connected the land of Jersey to assistance her grandma tally the household farm, portion her sister Rosie is sent to the UK for safekeeping. Interspersed with Rosie’s diary entries and letters home, this caller traces the Nazi concern of Jersey and was inspired by the real-life stories of the author’s family.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

This Booker Prize-winning caller takes the signifier of letters sent from Balram Halwai, a driven, Indian businessman, to the president of China, who is astir to sojourn Bangalore. In the letters, Halwai details his emergence from servant to the pinnacle of entrepreneur culture, arsenic good arsenic sharing darkly comic observations of modern beingness and people successful Bangalore.

The Incarnations by Susan Barker

Wang Jun, a Beijing taxi driver, finds a missive dropped into his thigh 1 time claiming to beryllium from his soulmate. As letters proceed to arrive, helium realizes that they are from radical successful his past lives, detailing everything from being enslaved and escaping Genghis Khan to serving connected the Red Guard arsenic a teenager. This publication plays with format, time, and characters to make a unsocial speechmaking experience.

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel successful Letters by Mark Dunn

Okay, perceive maine out. Yes, this is often shelved arsenic a mediate people oregon YA book. But, I’d besides assertion that it’s a invaluable work arsenic an big who loves written connection and the powerfulness it gives america to archer stories. Ella Minnow Pea lives connected the land of Nollop, named for Nevin Nollop, who coined the condemnation containing each the letters of the alphabet, “The speedy brownish fox jumps implicit the lazy dog.” However, Nollop is being ruled by the totalitarian Island Council, and arsenic letters driblet from a statue of Nevin Nollop, the islanders are forbidden to usage them erstwhile writing. This publication is simply a originative workout successful penning that volition delight publication lovers!