What’s your favorite epistolary novel*?
(* I feel like I should add, “besides The Correspondent by Virginia Evans,” since that one’s gotten so much buzz lately, LOL.)
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Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. But I have to give a shout out to 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff that introduced me to the genre (even though it’s not a novel but the actual letters between her & Frank Doel).
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I love the epistolary format! An American Marriage by Tayari Jones was great.
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84 Charring Cross Road
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Loved 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (also, enjoyed the sequel). Another delightful and entertaining epistolary series is Beth Brower’s the Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion.
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Dear Committee Members: A Novel (The Dear Committee Trilogy Book 1)
This book is hilarious! It is a witty, snarky, and comical skewering of modern-day college English departments, many of which are suffering from a lack of allocated funding from their universities as the number of English majors declines in favor of STEM majors. If you were an English major or have taught English at the collegiate level, treat yourself to this book, the first in a trilogy. Written by Julie Schumacher, the entire book is a series of letters of recommendation written over one year—September 2009 to August 2010—by the disgruntled and cantankerous Jason T. Fitger, a professor of creative writing and English at the fictional Payne University located somewhere in the Midwest. A second-tier school, but a first-rate story.
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Les Liaisons dangereuses for me. I just love evil characters, I guess!
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For me, it’s three, all very different from each other:
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (lyrical, quiet, beautiful)
The All-True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (caustic, raunchy, irreverent, and laugh out loud funny)
Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock (unusual, multimedia, hands on)
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Oh, I love the Griffin & Sabine books. I recently read House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski and thought about those books the entire time (although HoL is horror, not romance).
Ella, Minnow, Pea by Mark Dunn. Quirky and gives new meaning to the art of reading.
Last Christmas in Paris by Heather Webb and Hazel Gaynor, and Dracula by Bram Stoker. I can’t believe I had never read Dracula before this fall.
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I have to say Joan Didion’s novels, especially her most recent Notes to John.
Some of my favorite epistolary novels (besides The Correspondent, 84, Charing Cross Road, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society):
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay. A tender friendship told through letters, filled with food, connection, and heart.
Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson. A quiet, beautiful correspondence that becomes a lifeline for two strangers.
Address Unknown by Kathrine Taylor. A powerful, chilling story that shows how a series of letters can change everything.
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt. Sharp, witty, and unexpected, short but with a sting.
These are my two favorites also!
84 Charing Cross Road!
I’m so glad you added this one, Cathryn! It’s one of my favorites and I hope more readers give it a try. It is laugh-out-loud funny and cranky Fitger is a great character. Even if you’re not in academia I think anyone can appreciate the departmental politics and student expectations.
I’m not in academia, but I was an English major about a million years ago…just loved this.
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