American Boy

I read an entire book yesterday. And as much as I read, I typically don't do that as I have so many other things I want to do. But yesterday I started "Letters From Skye" by Jessica Brockmole and literally could not put it down.

I had first eyed this special gem of a book while perusing NetGalley for new ARCs to request and my eye totally caught the word Skye, which I immediately recognized as an island off the western coast of Scotland. "Could it be?" I wondered. A book that takes place in Scotland? If you know me even just a little bit you know that I am all about Scotland and with my upcoming trip there quickly approaching, I've been seeking out things that are Scottish-themed.

So yesterday, after finishing The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater*, I picked my nook back up with the plan to get the first few pages in before I dedicated the rest of my day to watching the US Open**. Next thing I knew, I was 60 pages in with no desire to take a break!

You know that feeling you get when you check the mail and you spot a cute little envelope with the handwriting of one of your favorite people on the front? Or when you open your mailbox and a beautiful postcard is sitting in there, waiting to be read? I love that feeling. Snail mail is awesome and this book was an entire story told in letters! I loved how the plot was moved, first by one character, and then continued by another. The only dialogue was that which was transcribed into a letter, making it a very different type of storytelling.

"Letters From Skye" is the story of a young American boy who, with a fan letter to his favorite poet in the 1910s, begins a many year relationship with a woman who has never stepped off the island where she lives. I found it so special to fall in love with these characters as they both did with each other. Both had such a way with words and I loved to imagine them written on pieces of gritty paper and then traveling across the Atlantic from Scotland to America and vice versa.

The  other part of the story takes place many years later and is told through the letters of another young woman and the man she plans to marry. Her mother disappears after a World War II bombing in Edinburgh, prompting the daughter to investigate the early part of her mom's life that had never been shared. While different kinds of letters, I enjoyed this part of the story, as well, and felt like the flow between the two time periods worked perfectly.

I finished this book late last night and my heart was just filled with loving thoughts towards love, life, and this story. I hope you read it, too...and then maybe you should write me a letter and tell me what you thought.

XO,
SVR




* Also really good!
** Super obsessed with tennis, y'all. 

+ Title from Kanye West