“Nirvana means freedom. Freedom from suffering. I guess some people would say that death is just that. So, congratulations on being free, I guess. The rest of us are still here, grappling with all that’s been torn up.”
–
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira had me engaged right away with its letter format, and I had a hard time putting it down when I started reading it. Often I didn’t have a choice though because Maggie was yanking the tablet away from me mid-sentence. I think I need to get a cover for my tablet that looks like vegetables or housework so that I don’t have to fight so hard for it.
Although the book is an easy read that flows quickly, the subject matter is important and full of emotion. The story is about a teenage girl named Laurel who begins writing letters to famous people who have died young and suddenly. It was initially a school assignment, that quickly morphed into a year-long journey toward understanding what has happened in her past and working through the sudden loss of her older sister, May and the abandonment she feels when her mother moves across the country when Laurel needs her the most.
Through the letters we explore the different ways in which the characters grieve May’s death. We also learn how self-destructive guilt and anger are, and only when the characters begin to open up to each other can they begin to heal. Even if you are like me, and well beyond the age of Laurel, the book will resonate.
Love Letters to the Dead is available at Chapters.ca or at your local bookstore.
You can also have the chance to WIN Love Letters to the Dead, as well as 11 other books from Raincoast Books, by entering the contest that BLUNTmoms is hosting. The winner of the contest will receive an incredible Summer Reading Book Club Basket, valued at $250:
Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira
Going Over by Beth Kephart
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgeraldby Therese Anne Fowler
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friendby Matthew Dicks
The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman
How to be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
Disclosure: I was given an electronic copy of Love Letters to the Dead for the purpose of writing this review. Opinions are my own.
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