Friday, Feb 6, 2009

Book Review: The Wednesday Letters

Author:      Jason F. Wright

Publisher:  Berkley Books, The Penguin Group.

Website:    www.thewednesdayletters.com

ISBN #:    978-0-425-22347-5

Type:        Fiction – Drama

Pages:     280 Paperback

The Review

February is the month of love… cupid… Valentine’s Day.  This Monday, I revied Love In The Time Of Cholera, the movie and today I am reviewing The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright and the book is all about love!

I became introduced to his work when I recently read (and reviewed) Recovering Charles.  While recently at Walmart watching the twins involved in a frenzy over the Twilight series books, I perused the book section for any cool little nuggets that I had to have.  There was one copy of this book, behind stacks of others, that I happened to come across.  “Cool!” I exclaimed, aloud.  I really liked his other book and I have been seeing some good things about this book in our blogging community.  In the cart it went.

This book is about so many types of love: the love of God, the love of your spouse, the love of your child, the love of your soulmate, and the unconditional love that presents forgiveness in face of adversity in the worst of circumstances.  This is a story of Jack and Laurel Cooper who run a B&B in the quaint, rural community of Woodstock, Virginia (see video below).  After nearly 40 years of marriage, they both pass away one night to be found by a guest of the inn the following morning.  Their three children, Matthew, Samantha and Malcolm come from different walks of life to arrange their funeral and mourn their loss.  When the three children reunite, we discover the heartaches and joys of these siblings as they search out peace admist their loss.

In going through their parents’ belongings, they discover a box of letters that their father, Jack, wrote to their mother, Laurel, every Wednesday during the stay of their marriage.  Through reading them, they discover the best and the saddest parts of their parents’ lives and unearth secrets that will affect them all.   

In reading this book, you will find a sense of calm, understanding, and forgiveness.  You will root for the underdog, Malcolm, on his journey back to love and strength.  You will find yourself rooting for love to be the one thing that makes everything right, in the end.

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale:”

I am just a Jason F. Wright fan, now, folks!  I really liked Recovering Charles and I very much enjoyed this book.  You know, I have no choice now but to read The Christmas Jars because his style of writing is just right up my alley!  There are facets of his works that remind me of Nicholas Sparks, whom I love, love, love!  This book is an easy, peaceful read which I gobbled up very quickly.  I do encourage you to read it for Valentine’s Day this year, especially you married folk!  One thing that the book brings forth is the suggestion to write the one you love, on paper, and faithfully to demonstrate the expansiveness of your heart and soul to them.  If I ever fall in love again, I will do just that!  Believe me, I will!

So, for the Fiction: Drama:Family/Love, I am giving The Wednesday Letters a 9 out of 10.  I love this type of book!

A Love Letter to remember…

Ronald Reagan ~ March 4, 1983

Dear First Lady I know tradition has it that on this morning I place cards Happy Anniversary cards on your breakfast tray. But things are somewhat mixed up. I substituted a gift & delivered it a few weeks ago. Still this is the day, the day that marks 31 years of such happiness as comes to few men. I told you once that it was like an adolescent’s dream of what marriage should be like. That hasn’t changed. You know I love the ranch but these last two days made it plain I only love it when you are there. Come to think of it that’s true of every place & every time. When you aren’t there I’m no place, just lost in time & space. I more than love you, I’m not whole without you. You are life itself to me. When you are gone I’m waiting for you to return so I can start living again. Happy Anniversary & thank you for 31 wonderful years. I love you Your Grateful Husband

 

 

 

GREAT CLIPS ABOUT THE wEDNESDAY lETTERS:

This is adorable… a movie about Woodstock, VA with Jason Wright’s daughter: 

Here is what Jason Wright has to say about writing letters:

The Christmas Jars is most likely his most famous book and is being made into a motion picture:

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