Books with category ✉️ Epistolary
Displaying 12 books

The Color Purple

2019

by Alice Walker

Alice Walker's iconic modern classic, The Color Purple, is a powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature that depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence.

Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sofia and their experiences. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery.

Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker's epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.

Poor Folk

Poor Folk is an epistolary novel — a tale told as a series of letters between the characters. And oh, what characters these are! Makar Dievushkin Alexievitch is a copywriter, barely squeaking by; Barbara Dobroselova Alexievna works as a seamstress, and both face the sort of everyday humiliation society puts upon the poor.

These are people respected by no one, not even by themselves. These are folks too poor, in their circumstances, to marry; the love between them is a chaste and proper thing, a love that brings some readers to tears. But it isn't maudlin, either; Fyodor Dostoevsky has something profound to say about these people and this circumstance. And he says it very well.

This novel is a profound exploration of poverty and love, capturing the essence of human struggle and dignity.

Love Letters to the Dead

2014

by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more -- though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her.

Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was -- lovely and amazing and deeply flawed -- can she begin to discover her own path in this stunning debut from Ava Dellaira, Love Letters to the Dead.

Life on the Refrigerator Door

2007

by Alice Kuipers

Claire and her mother are running out of time, but they don't know it. Not yet. Claire is wrapped up with the difficulties of her bourgeoning adulthood—boys, school, friends, identity; Claire's mother, a single mom, is rushed off her feet both at work and at home.

They rarely find themselves in the same room at the same time, and it often seems that the only thing they can count on are notes to each other on the refrigerator door. When home is threatened by a crisis, their relationship experiences a momentous change. Forced to reevaluate the delicate balance between their personal lives and their bond as mother and daughter, Claire and her mother find new love and devotion for one another deeper than anything they had ever imagined.

Heartfelt, touching, and unforgettable, Life on the Refrigerator Door is a glimpse into the lives of mothers and daughters everywhere. In this deeply touching novel told through a series of notes written from a loving mother and her devoted fifteen-year-old daughter, debut author Alice Kuipers deftly captures the impenetrable fabric that connects mothers and daughters throughout the world. Moving and rich with emotion, Life on the Refrigerator Door delivers universal lessons about love in a wonderfully simple and poignant narrative.

Love, Rosie

2005

by Cecelia Ahern

Sometimes you have to look at life in a whole new way...From the bestselling author of PS, I Love You comes a delightfully enchanting novel about what happens when two people who are meant to be together just can't seem to get it right.

Rosie and Alex are destined for one another, and everyone seems to know it but them. Best friends since childhood, their relationship gets closer by the day, until Alex gets the news that his family is leaving Dublin and moving to Boston. At 17, Rosie and Alex have just started to see each other in a more romantic light. Devastated, the two make plans for Rosie to apply to colleges in the U.S. She gets into Boston University, Alex gets into Harvard, and everything is falling into place, when on the eve of her departure, Rosie gets news that will change their lives forever: She's pregnant by a boy she'd gone out with while on the rebound from Alex. Her dreams for college, Alex, and a glamorous career dashed, Rosie stays in Dublin to become a single mother, while Alex pursues a medical career and a new love in Boston. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel, structured as a series of clever e-mails, letters, notes, and a trail of missed opportunities, Alex and Rosie find out that fate isn't done with them yet.

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters

2002

by Mark Dunn

Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, the author of the immortal pangram, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

Now, Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island's Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop.

As the letters progressively drop from the statue, they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl's fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

Feeling Sorry for Celia

2002

by Jaclyn Moriarty

Feeling Sorry for Celia is a hilariously candid novel that captures the roller coaster ride of being a teenager. Written entirely in the form of letters, messages, postcards, and bizarre missives from imaginary organizations, the book delves into the life of Elizabeth Clarry, whose existence is anything but simple.

Her best friend, Celia, has a habit of disappearing, her father who was absent has now reappeared, and her communication with her mother relies solely on wacky notes left on the fridge. To add to her confusion, Elizabeth's English teacher is determined to revive the art of letter writing, leading to a Complete and Utter Stranger knowing more about her than anyone else.

Elizabeth is on the brink of numerous changes. She might lose her best friend but could find an incredible new one, share a kiss with the sexiest guy alive, and even participate in a marathon. The story goes to show that a lot can happen in the time it takes to write a letter.

Feeling Sorry for Celia is not just a story about teenage life; it sharply captures the essence of female friendship and the moments of bonding and separation that come with growing up. Jaclyn Moriarty's debut is as much fun as it is poignant, offering a vivid reminder of the highs and lows of adolescence.

Address Unknown

Address Unknown is a rediscovered classic, originally published in 1938 and now an international bestseller. When it first appeared in Story magazine in 1938, Address Unknown became an immediate social phenomenon and literary sensation. Published in book form a year later and banned in Nazi Germany, it garnered high praise in the United States and much of Europe.

This book is a series of fictional letters between a Jewish art dealer living in San Francisco and his former business partner, who has returned to Germany. Address Unknown is a haunting tale of enormous and enduring impact.

Dear Mr. Henshaw

2000

by Beverly Cleary

Leigh Botts has been Boyd Henshaw's number one fan ever since he was in second grade. Now in sixth grade, Leigh lives with his mother and is the new kid in school. He's lonely, troubled by the absence of his father, a cross-country trucker, and angry because a mysterious thief steals from his lunchbag.

Then Leigh's teacher assigns a letter-writing project. Naturally, Leigh chooses to write to Mr. Henshaw, whose surprising answer changes Leigh's life.

Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady

Pressured by her unscrupulous family to marry a wealthy man she detests, the young Clarissa Harlowe is tricked into fleeing with the witty and debonair Robert Lovelace and places herself under his protection. Lovelace, however, proves himself to be an untrustworthy rake whose vague promises of marriage are accompanied by unwelcome and increasingly brutal sexual advances. And yet, Clarissa finds his charm alluring, her scrupulous sense of virtue tinged with unconfessed desire.

Told through a complex series of interweaving letters, Clarissa is a richly ambiguous study of a fatally attracted couple and a work of astonishing power and immediacy. A huge success when it first appeared in 1747, it remains one of the greatest of all European novels. Its rich ambiguities give the story extraordinary psychological momentum.

De Profundis and Other Writings

1976

by Oscar Wilde

De Profundis and Other Writings is a profound collection of works by the renowned Oscar Wilde. This collection showcases Wilde's humorous and epigrammatic genius that once captivated the London theatre. Through his writing, Wilde casts light from unexpected angles, thus widening the bounds of truth.

The Screwtape Letters

1942

by C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below."

At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

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