The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant

The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant by Kayte Nunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was intoxicating - once I started, I went to back to it every chance I got. I loved that it was a historical fiction that was not about a war or specific event. Instead, portions of the story were simply colored by the time in which the characters lived. I enjoyed too the three narrators, the different locations, and their respective eras. I'm always drawn in by untold stories and artifacts from people who have lived before us, so I appreciated the forgotten letters element. This book took on mental health and post-partum issues in 1950s England - that's certainly not a common story for that era, and so I was drawn in (being pregnant obviously was a factor for me) to Esther's story.

I think this book is worth a read. It made me think of the Hamilton musical line: "Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?" Ron Chernow and Lin-Manuel Miranda both focus on that concept in their tellings of Hamilton history, but they don't shy away from Hamilton's missteps. The complete story is more important than one that is neat and tidy and ignores the mistakes and dark periods of a person's life. Esther Durrant's full story is worth telling, and so are our stories - even when they are messy.

Happy reading and happy story telling--