LAST LETTER HOME by RACHEL HORE

LAST LETTER HOME

BY RACHEL HORE

THE BLURB:-

Can a chance encounter unlock one woman's past?

On holiday in Italy, Briony Wood becomes fascinated by the wartime story of a ruined villa hidden amongst the hills of Naples. Not only is it the very place where her grandfather was stationed as a soldier in 1943, but she also discovers that it harbours the secret of a love long lost.

Handed a bundle of tattered letters found buried at the villa, Briony becomes enraptured by the blossoming love story between Sarah Bailey, an English woman, and Paul Hartmann, a young German. The letters lead her back almost seventy years to pre-war Norfolk.

But as Briony delves into Paul and Sarah's story, she encounters resentments and secrets tightly guarded. All too quickly it is clear that what happened long ago under the shadow of Vesuvius still has the power to cause terrible pain...

THE REALITY:-

Rachel Hore's novels either touch me or they don't, and I'm pleased to say that this book fell into the former category. Her books are often complex; with many different layers in terms of time frame, and explanatory sections coming at you from different angles. I've often felt the need to totally re-read her work just to straighten some of the facts out in my head. I haven't felt the urge to revisit this book in its entirety, but I did pick up on some continuity issues so I, being extremely pedantic and annoying, just HAD to go back to a clarify and double check a couple of points...

Okay...  On page 272, Greg is discussing his grandfather, Ivor Richards, and he describes him as being dead for ten years. This book was published in 2018 and is definitely set in the modern age, as technologies such as Facebook, the Internet and selfies are mentioned. Greg's age is in his early forties and he mentions that he knew his grandfather, but not very well.  But on page 511 Ivor's son, Tom, states that his father died in 1973. So, Greg wouldn't have even been born when Ivor died, and therefore didn't know him at all. Also, on page 519, Briony compares pictures of a young Harry taken in Westbury with the men on the film she's acquired and I'm pretty damn sure that's the first time pictures of Harry in Westbury (trust me, Harry's face is very important to the storyline) have been mentioned. Jeez, I think I need to work as a continuity editor (although I do respect the fact that, as a novelist, you have to be extremely careful about such inconsistencies and it's not that hard for something to slip beneath the bar).

Writers, you need me as much as the public needs to read my work!

I thoroughly enjoyed the setting of the book as, like a couple of other Rachel Hore novels, it's set in Norfolk where the author resides. I was brought up in the county and still visit parts (although not the town in which I grew up- I have my reasons and just don't want to). The characters across both time frames were all interesting and there were some unexpected twists regarding the relationship between Briony, Aruna and Luke. It does grate a bit that the main characters are all well-educated, successful and well-paid, but that's not the author's fault- rather it's my own problem, as I have been quite a late developer in getting my act together and, as a result, have led a troubled life career-wise. Oh well, after my upcoming (Norfolk!) holiday my MA Creative Writing applications will begin in earnest and hopefully I'll be able to manage to kick-start my professional life.

I did think that- spoiler alert!- Diane's illegitimate baby might hold the key to the story and might even be Harry Andrews, but I was totally wrong. The subject of the Arandora Star and German internees in the UK during the Second World War has been used in another novel I read (Before The Storm, by Judith Lennox) many moons ago so it was something I knew about. Generally, though, I found the war scenes a bit tedious (although well written) but then again I often find war scenes in novels a bit dragging- that's just me. I've also seen the subject of a character taking on someone's else's identity during the aftermath of the war used before (The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton) so it's something that was obviously relatively easy to do then. That idea had been used here and it really worked and pulled the whole story together. A great read which comes highly recommended.