Letters between Us by Linda Overman

‘Letters between Us’ opens with the death of 40 year old Katherine who was a patient in a mental asylum. It is assumed she has committed suicide. When Laura her childhood friend goes to her funeral, she is full of questions. She wants to understand why was Katherine was compelled to take this step. Her husband David whom she has never liked much gives her Katherine’s old box full of letters, old photographs and some journal entries.

As Laura goes through the box and reads each letter and each journal entry she unravels Katherine’s life and her secrets. When she looks at all the memories with an adult’s perspective she finally reads between the lines and understands what Katherine was going through right from her childhood.

The book starts off really well. I wanted to know what Laura would find in all the letters and photographs. Would she find a mystery? Or would she find why Katherine died? But all the letters contained was how Laura was so involved in drugs and boys and experimenting with things. For a while I really started to wonder where all this was leading to.

But as Laura reads more letters, I realized that they gave an insight into Katherine’s and Laura’s life. I found the writing very edgy at times, or may be it was because of the topic. It’s raw and honest. Although less than 200 pages, this book cannot be breezed through.

Overall I liked it. If you can stick through the first 30-40 pages, you’ll certainly love the rest.

Letters Between Us-honored as “Finalist” in “Fiction & Lit: Chick Lit/Women’s Lit” category of National Best Books 2008 Awards sponsored by USA Book News.