All is Fair...

All is Fair...

Jessica Conrad

Letters from Skye

Jessica Brockmole

    Imagine the worst feelings you can. Pain, confusion and depression probably come up.  In this story of love in war, those feelings are all the characters seem to experience, and the most tragic part is that two people’s love is the root of it all. Elspeth- a married woman from the Island of Skye- and David, an American fighting in World War One, have a huge impact on not only each other’s lives, but many others’ as well. As mentioned in my previous blog post (Two Worlds), Elspeth and David’s romance intensifies during the war, and as it does other relationships crumble.

    Elspeth continues to write back and forth to David, and grows increasingly guilty about it when Iain (her husband) is declared missing in action and eventually dead. Seeing their relationship, confirming she is cheating on Iain, sends her brother over the edge, causing him to disappear from his family until Margaret reached out.

    Elspeth returns home and finds out she is pregnant with Margaret- David’s child. At the same time, David tells her he may want to reenlist in the army for another year. She is adamant that he does not, and then word from him seems to stop. Elspeth’s whole world then also stops when she hears from one of his friends that David has died. As if by miracle, David writes to Elspeth saying that he is not dead, but he has been captured as prisoner of war. He also met Iain at the prison camp. David creates a fairytale story about him and Elspeth, writing “he knew hat no gift could draw Lucida away from her home. But, by sending the fisherman back to it, he’d found the only gift that mattered”, and gives it to Iain after he helps him escape to go home to his wife (Brockmole 260). His selfless gesture goes to waste though, as Iain’s relationship with Elspeth is not the same, and he eventually dies.

    Margaret continues on her journey to discover the “second volume” of her mother’s life, and meets her grandparents and uncles for the first time. She then locates her mother in a hospital in Edinburgh, and Finlay also comes to take her home. Margaret continues her search, and is able to contact David and bring him home to their family.

    The story is very interesting, and is not your generic love story. Although the ending may be a bit predictable, the course of the story up until the ending is not. This read is full of unexpected twists and turns, and thats what makes it so enjoyable. It’s a classic type of love story, with a non traditional take and unexpected events.

The author does a particularly good job with the emotion of the characters, which makes it much more vivid and easy to read. Feelings of pain and sadness are shown through Harry, David’s best friend’s letter to Elspeth with his line “to satisfy the last wish of the best friend I could ever hope to have…”, referring to the letter and story David wished to send to her when he was presumably dead  (Brockmole 231). Elspeth reveals how long she has desperately waited for David at the cathedral saying,“nine thousand days is a lot, but ten thousand is excessive", simultaneously exposing multiple emotions of years of blind hopefulness and dedication, but also tragedy and hopelessness.  (Brockmole 285). The author’s ability to pull so much out of only 11 words is pretty extraordinary. This skill of Brockmole’s contributes to why I like this book so much- because there isn’t a plain, unpacked sentence. Everything she writes has so much meaning, which derails it from ever getting boring.

For sure there is a distinct audience for this novel. Readers who can appreciate the romance and historical context of the story, as well as feel curious for the outcome will find Letters from Skye an enjoyable read. Feminists and others who thirst for a strong female lead can also find that in this book, since Elspeth is certainly not a “sit still, look pretty” kind of woman. She is strong and makes her wants and opinions very obvious. This story is by no means in a modern setting or in modern language, but the story and its theme of love persisting is clear and timeless.