A lovely story told through correspondence. ( )

Sono abbastanza "vecchia" da ricordare com'era scrivere e ricevere lettere. Quand'ero piccola inviavo molte lettere alle mie amiche e ricordo che uno dei regali più in voga per i compleanni era la carta da lettere. Naturalmente formato bambina, se così si può dire: la carta, così come le buste, erano variamente decorate (cuccioli dagli occhi dolci, fiori, piante rampicanti, etc...). Così ci scrivevamo spesso ed erano fiumi di parole: mi ricordo degli sforzi per cercare di far entrare nella lettera tutto quello che avevo da dire/raccontare. Pagine e pagine riempite nella grafia più minuscola possibile e poi infilate con cura nella busta (che poi veniva regolarmente pressata perché aveva le dimensioni di un panino imbottito...).

Ora vi chiederete: ma cos'è questa roba, una recensione o un attacco di vecchiaia precoce con conseguente rimpianto dei bei tempi andati (e vi risparmierò la massima "Si stava meglio quando si stava peggio"... oops, ormai l'ho scritta! :P)?

Be', tutto l'ambaradan era per spiegare quello che mi ha lasciata più perplessa in questo libro epistolare: la brevità delle lettere. Io che vedevo le mie amiche abbastanza spesso inviavo loro lettere chilometriche e questi due che hanno l'Atlantico in mezzo - e sono innamorati - si scrivono sì e no tre parole in croce. Strano. Alcune sono così brevi da sembrare quasi dei twit... in generale, non si va oltre la lunghezza media di una mail.

Infatti, non è un libro che lascia il segno ("il romanzo più romantico dell'anno"? Mah...). L'ho trovato carino, piacevole, ma certo non indimenticabile. Le lettere sono troppo brevi per sviluppare a pieno i sentimenti dei corrispondenti, qualche frase ben piazzata non basta a lasciare il lettore scosso dal dramma di questi due sfortunati innamorati di penna. ( )

SWEDISH REVIEW

Breven från ön charmade mig från början med sin ovanliga uppbyggnad. Handlingen är helt konstruerad genom brev skickade mellan karaktärerna i boken. Just brevformen fick boken att kännas annorlunda och gav vad som skulle kunna vara en vanlig romantisk berättelse en känsla av något nytt. Men brevformatet är även en nackdel då beskrivningar och djupare inblick i karaktärerna saknas.

Allt börjar med ett brev, ett beundrarbrev från David till Espeth och jag fann inledningen nog det bästa med boken, när de lärde känna varandra och mer och mer blev mer familjära med varandra. Sedan börjar deras känslor för varandra växa allt mer och här börjar jag känna att berättelsen tappar lite fart, det blir lite för känslosamt och trånade och breven blev en aning tråkigare att läsa. Jag störde mig även på Espeth's bror som lade sig i lite för mycket i hennes liv.

Mitt i allt detta så har vi Margaret som försöker luska ut var henne mor är och som finner ett av Davids brev. Jag fann hennes sökande efter svar en drivande kraft genom boken men hennes egen kärlekshistoria kunde jag ha levt utan. Om hennes mors relation med David var en aning för känslosam så känns Margarets brevväxling med Paul torftig.

Men trots att Breven från ön inte helt övertygade mig så tycker jag att boken var värd att läsa och jag gillade verkligen att boken är uppbyggd på brev, men boken hade varit ännu bättre om jag hade kunnat knyta an mer till karaktärerna och utan det för att vara ärlig lite för välplacerade slutet!

Tack till Bazar Förlag för recensionexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

Letters from Skye charmed me from the beginning with its unusual construction. The plot is completely constructed by letters sent between the characters in the book. The book is completely constructed by letters sent between the characters in the book. This form feels different and gives what could be an ordinary romantic story a sense of something new. However, the letter format is also a disadvantage because I feel that the deeper descriptions and insight into the characters are missing.

Everything starts with a letter, a fan letter from David to Espeth and I found the introduction probably the best part of the book, when they got to know each other more and more became more familiar with each other. Then, their feelings for each other grow more and it's here I begin to feel that the story loses some momentum, it gets a little too emotional and I found the letters were a little boring to read. And, the whole affair, l I was not charmed and I was a bit annoyed with Espeth's brother who acted like he was the one that decided over Espeth's life.

Amidst all this, we have Margaret who tries to find out where her mother is, and who finds one of David's letter. I found her search for answers a driving force through the book, but her own love story, I could have lived without. If her mother's relationship with David was a little too emotional is Margaret's correspondence with Paul uninteresting.

But, despite that Letters from Skye did not completely entranced me, did I think that the book was worth reading and I really liked that the book is based on the letter, but I feel that the book would have been even better if I had been able to connect with more characters and without, to be honest, the well-placed ending!

Thanks to Bazar Förlag for the review copy! ( )

Marzo de 1912. Elspeth Dunn ,una joven escritora que jamás ha abandonado su hogar en la remota isla escocesa de Skye, recibe la carta de un admirador norteamericano. La firma el universitario David Graham y supone para ella una puerta al mundo. A medida que los dos se vuelcan en la correspondencia, compartiendo sus esperanzas más atrevidas y sus mayores secretos, su intercambio acaba convirtiéndose en amistad y, con el tiempo, en amor. Cuando estalla la primera guerra mundial, David se alista como voluntario y la correspondencia se trunca. Junio de 1940. En plena segunda guerra mundial, la hija de Elspeth, Margaret, se enamora de un piloto inglés. Su madre trata de disuadirla, sabe, por experiencia, lo doloroso que es mantener una relación en tiempos de guerra. Un día Elspeth desaparece dejando unas cartas tras de sí. Margaret se adentra con ellas en un pasado del que nada sabía.

I won this from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program way back in April 2013, but never received a copy from the publisher (Ballantine). It still appeared on my Not Reviewed list (I've been an Early Reviewer since November 2007), so I checked to see if any of my libraries had a copy - and my small local public library did have it in print.

Letters from Skye, as the name implies, is an epistolary novel, a story told almost entirely in letters, in this case written by five main correspondents in two time periods.

In 1912, Elspeth Dunn, a Scottish poet who lives on the Isle of Skye, gets a fan letter from David Graham of Illinois. They begin corresponding regularly, through David's last year of college, and his time volunteering as an ambulance driver in France during the first World War. Slowly but surely, they fall in love.

In June 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Elspeth's daughter Margaret is writing to her English pilot friend Paul (with whom she's falling in love) as well as her mother, bringing back memories for the latter. After a bomb blast at their home, which uncovers the letters from David that Elspeth hid many years before, Elspeth disappears, and Margaret ultimately writes to Elspeth's brother Finlay in an effort to find her.

To write much more in this review would spoil the story. Suffice to say that chapters alternate between the 1912-1919 time period (Elspeth and David), and 1940 (Margaret, Paul, Finlay, and a few others), and it's a romance. The plot was a bit predictable, but the letters were heartfelt. I would have liked to see the inclusion of more of Elspeth's poems and David's fairy tales (referred to in the letters). ( )