Hoochee Book Club

About 3 weeks ago, I was reading on Ainsley's blog about a book club she was starting. I thought, "How fun! A cyber book club where I don't know anyone!" (No sarcasm at all, I really did think that was great... and I still do!) So I immediately ordered the first book off of Amazon. It's called "The Letters". I had heard in advance that it was sad and I am known for completely sobbing uncontrollably through books, so I was prepared for this. A little hesitant, but ready.

The book is about a husband and wife and their incredibly strained relationship (they're actually waiting for the divorce to go through) after the tragic death of their only son. The first thing that I enjoyed about the book is that it is only letters, thus the title. There's no narration, no explanation. You find out all you need to know in these letters between Sam and Hadley. Sam has moved out of their house and traveled to Alaska where he has to take a 10-day dogsled expedition to where their son, Paul, died in an airplane accident. Hadley, meanwhile, headed to an old abandoned cabin to sort things out and rediscover herself (still not quite sure what that means).

What strikes me as interesting is how quickly the letters express Sam and Hadley's love for each other. Their deep, undying love. This is intriguing because interspersed between their memories and admissions that they still do love each other are little mentions of what stage their divorce is in at the moment. It's kinda like one of those movies where you know the guy and girl are really into each other, but you feel like you have to cheer extra hard to get them together.

You can begin to imagine their pain with the loss of their son and the loss of each other as their support. Thankfully, I didn't sob throughout the book, mainly because I could see that they did still love each other and I held out hope that they would work things out. Did they? Well, you'll have to read it to find out.