Review : A Thousand Letters - Staci Hart

Review: A Thousand Letters - Staci Hart - February 2017

One of my favorite authors is Staci Hart, and when I read that she had a book out, I knew I had to read it. I got even more excited when I discovered that it was to be a modern rendition of Jane Austen's Persuasion as another favorite trope of mine is renditions, and Austen inspired fiction. In A Thousand Letters, we meet Elliott who was in love with her next door neighbor Wyatt. The pair were going to get married and live happily ever after. Elliott's family weren't supportive one bit, and she sadly chose her family over Wyatt. This broke not only Elliott's heart but also Wyatt's. He went off to the military and never looked back whereas Elliott stayed home and went on to help her family out. I hated Elliott's family as they treat her like a doormat, but I do like it in the end when she finally gets the guts to tell her family to f__k them all. During the novel, seven years have passed, and Wyatt's dad who was more like a parent to Elliott is dying, and so Wyatt returns home. Of course, there is still strong pain radiating off both Wyatt and Elliott. Can the pair work through their issues and in the time of grief discover that their love for one another is still strong and that life can be fleeting?  As a fan of Austen's work, I did love reading the comparison between A Thousand Letters and Persuasion and reading Staci Hart's take on the classic novel as Persuasion is one of Austen's lesser famous works as most renditions tend to be Pride and Prejudice, Emma or Sense and Sensibility.