Books About Letters

Seven Great Books About Letters

Royko In Love: Mike’s Letters to Carol by Mike Royko, edited by David Royko — Yes, that Mike Roykop, tough and cynical newspaper columnist — it turns out he had a sweet and vulnerable heart as a young man in the Air Force and he wooed his high school love from afar through his wonderful letters, found by his son after his death and collected in this book.

Letters to Father: Suor Maria Celeste to Galileo by Maria Galilei — Yes, that Galileo — he was a great dad, sending his daughter (ensconced in a convent) needed food, books, letters, and she was grateful and loving in return.

Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto by Joan Reardon — This pair of friends sent more than 200 letters back and forth, writing frankly about sex, men, life, and, of course, food.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff — A letter arrives a London bookstore, inquiring about secondhand books, setting off a correspondence that brought friendship, and then love, into the lives of two correspondents separated by an ocean but united by books.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins — The first detective novel, written in epistolary form, that tracks the loss of a gigantic yellow diamond of unearthly beauty and mysterious power. Love and death revolve around the magnificent diamond — and letters tell it all.

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster — A young woman is sent off to college through the sponsorship of an anonymous benefactor — all he asks in return are regular letters from school. Funny, heart-warming, and unforgettable, this book was a favorite of mine when I was a child and was just as fun to re-read as an adult.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen — Lady Susan Vernon is beautiful, charming, but also self-serving and quite cruel — follow her machinations to marry off her daughter and find a new husband for herself, written entirely in letters back and forth between the various characters in little-known novel by Jane Austen.