Novemila Giorni E Una Sola Notte (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Margaret, who has fallen in love with a soldier at the beginning of World War II, can’t understand why her mother, Elspeth, is so against a wartime romance. When Margaret discovers a trove of letters between her mother and an American named David, she begins to unravel Elspeth’s story. In 1912 Elspeth was a young poet living on the island of Skye who first met David when he wrote her a fan letter because he enjoyed one of her books. She replied to his letter and their correspondence developed into friendship. Later in the war, David volunteers as an ambulance driver and meets Elspeth. The novel is told entirely in letters, between David and Elspeth, and also between Margaret and Elspeth. There are some surprises as the story unwinds, and a satisfying reunion at the end. I enjoyed this very much, and read it in one day. Letter writing is definitely a lost art what with email and cell phones, but even though everyone else thinks letter writing is antiquated I find it to be quite romantic.Most of the content in the book is presented in letters, there is the correspondence between David Graham and Elspeth Dunn, their correspondence starts in 1912 and continues throughout World War II, and then there is Margaret, Elspeth's daughter, and her fiance/boyfriend, Paul,and their correspondence occurs during World War II. Letters seem to project love so much better than a text message or Facebook post ever could, and that is shown throughout David and Elspeth's correspondence with each other. Elspeth is a poet and David wrote her after reading one of her poetry books, what started as a sort of fan letter developed into something more between them, even though Elspeth is married!!We all have seen romantic movies set during a war, the death, tragedy, conflict, all of it is the perfect contrast to love, making it a great story and Letters from Skye does not disappoint in this regard, it is a wonderful example of historical fiction and I can honestly say this is one of the best historical fiction novels that I have read this year.
What do You think about Novemila Giorni E Una Sola Notte (2013)?
A charming little read - nice atmosphere, fairly predictable ending. I enjoyed the experience.
—Noodle
Sweet epistolary story with a little bit of anachronistic writing.
—Jay
