Letters From Another Life – Penn Gates
Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl pregnant. Girl marries boy. Boy’s brother falls in love with the bride. It all sounds very cliched and dull when it’s put like that but Gates has written a wonderfully complicated love story that pulls at your heart strings and makes you want to scream aloud at times. Gates has a gift for storytelling and sucking you in from the first chapter. It was very reminiscent of Pearl Harbour and the character arcs had an intriguing dynamic that meant the path to true love isn’t straightforward for any of the souls involved in the love triangle – Millie, Nick and Hugh.
I must admit, I was unsure if I was going to like the book – it’s not my usual go-to story but I was so invested in Millie and Nick’s relationship. Gates has written a true page turner. A heart-wrenching, heroic, sad, tear-jerking page turner. There are some books where you fall in love with the protagonists, but, Letters From Another Life is different. The most admirable character is Nick. He is what men should have and should be then and today. He sacrifices his own future and happiness because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.
This is a book that deserves more acclaim in my opinion. It’s not often you find a book that you don’t want to put down and your heart breaks a little when it comes to an end – especially when it has a twist as this one does.
The letters are written with love, care and thought. Gates has injected romance into them and it makes the reader swear about Millie’s misfortune to end up with Hugh rather than Nick. The ‘other’ life that is suggested in the title is a very clever way to draw the reader in. The reader is left to fantasise about the path Millie could or should choose – each character has their own agenda and I find it admirable that Gates didn’t go down any path that the readers would most likely want her to go down.
I discovered Gates on Twitter and I’m so glad I did – this book is proof that Indie authors deserve more recognition and applaud.
Find Penn Gates on Twitter here.
Find Penn Gates on Goodreads here.