Love Letters - Katie Fforde

Love Letters is one of those enjoyable and satisfying reads that is so perfect for those hot lazy summer days. It's gentle pace and intriguing characters draw you in as you want to find out what happens next. What's more, the storyline is based around a literary festival which makes fascinating reading for any book lover like me.

The main character is Laura who, having just lost her job at a bookshop which is closing down, finds herself ...
...bit of a shy and retiring type, this career move does not exactly fall within her comfort zone. However, she is soon absorbed in her new role and loving every minute, especially as she is making some very good friends. The festival needs a 'big name' draw though, so Laura finds herself travelling to Ireland to try and persuade the reclusive and enigmatic Dermott Flynn to appear. He also happens to be extremely sexy and also Laura's hero after having ... more

Love Letters is one of those enjoyable and satisfying reads that is so perfect for those hot lazy summer days. It's gentle pace and intriguing characters draw you in as you want to find out what happens next. What's more, the storyline is based around a literary festival which makes fascinating reading for any book lover like me.

The main character is Laura who, having just lost her job at a bookshop which is closing down, finds herself being persuaded to organise the festival. As she is a bit of a shy and retiring type, this career move does not exactly fall within her comfort zone. However, she is soon absorbed in her new role and loving every minute, especially as she is making some very good friends. The festival needs a 'big name' draw though, so Laura finds herself travelling to Ireland to try and persuade the reclusive and enigmatic Dermott Flynn to appear. He also happens to be extremely sexy and also Laura's hero after having studied his work at university. As the story progresses it charts the somewhat turbulent relationship between the pair, both professional and personal.

These two main characters are very different from each other. Laura is quite timid and shy, almost to the point that she can be quite annoying. However, she does have guts and determination too which is why she is able to make the festival a success. Dermott is creative and unpredictable and no one knows until the last minute whether he will turn up at the festival. On the surface then, it seems very unlikely that this pair would have anything in common at all, but somehow their relationship is believable and I really enjoyed seeing how it developed throughout the book.

There are many other minor characters in the book too and these are a diverse mix to say the least. From Laura's dowdy parents at one extreme to some very colourful authors at the other; all are interesting and integral to the story.

I found the pace of this book just right. It was nicely relaxed with just enough going on to keep my interest and make me want to read more. I am very glad I did because once again Katie Fforde has written a very enjoyable book. There is a good combination of humour and poignancy and two main characters you cannot fail to like.

The fact that much of the novel centred on the literary festival and a writer's course was a bonus for me too and provided a fascinating insight into the way that some authors might work. I was, however, a little puzzled by the choice of title though as it does imply that there might at least be an exchange of letters between the two main characters. There weren't actually any unless you count a couple of terse hasty e-mails although there was definitely at least a hint of love!

I really enjoyed this book and thoroughly recommend it to fans of Katoe Fforde. The hardcover is currently available on Amazon for £7.49.

This review has previously appeared under my name at www.thrbookbag.co.uk  

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