THE LETTER by Kathryn Hughes I was totally taken away by this novel which tells a moving if sad story of love lost and found; two stories thirty years apart which become one. It is 1973 and Tina is in an abusive marriage and contemplating her future when she comes across a letter in the pocket of a suit donated to the charity shop in which she works. Addressed to another Christina – Tina’s full name – Tina is intrigued by the coincidence and her imagination fired when she realises that the letter was never franked and thus never sent. What could possibly have been the reason that this letter never reached the recipient? 1939 and Billy and Chrissie have met at a dance. Chrissie is the daughter of a local doctor and midwife, an only child, she is allowed very little freedom and when she falls for Billy she falls hard. With Britain on the brink of war, when Chrissie discovers she is pregnant with Billy’s child she has no idea what turn her future will take. The story moves back and forth between the stories of Tina and Chrissie, women who both face hard choices. Tina has decided that the letter needs to finally be delivered to its intended recipient and begins her efforts to track down Chrissie unaware that on the other side of the world another person is also setting out in the task to track down the unknown Chrissie Skinner. It’s inevitable that their paths will cross but will they find Chrissie and will they discover the story of why she never did get that letter? This is quite a simple story but told with a great depth of human understanding and a deal of warmth. The story moves along at a nice pace keeping the reader interested and never once veering from the story with irrelevant detail. I loved the little details of the Seventies – tinned peaches and Carnation cream, the power cuts and black and white TV. The characters were all very realistic and I couldn’t help but warm to the main ones. The subject of abusive marriage was dealt with accurately and sympathetically as was the pregnancy out of wedlock and I felt the author had really captured the feelings of the times in which the stories were set. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed this novel, finding it easy to engage with and never losing interest in either the story or the characters and I thought the ending was just right – yes, I admit, it even brought a tear to my eye! I’ll look forward to more by this author