Rating: 
Summary: LOVED THE AUDIO BOOK
Review: I listened to the audio version. I found the 'Lover Letter' thoroughly enjoyable.The writer's style draws you into the story.You experience the lives of the individuals in the classic New Enland resort town. It was easy to invision the hot weather,the little bookshop and the letter found without an envelope and addressed to no one. It was a great little story. It kept my interest right to the end.
Rating:
Summary: THE LOVE LETTER
Review: I truly loved this book. The intrigue of Helen finding the love letter and not knowing who wrote it is wonderful. Her affair with Johnny can make you feel young again.The book is wonderful but you must read it before you see the movie or you will never want to read the book after seeing the movie. The movie goes way off the mark and turns the story into a comedy but it is really a romantic drama.
Rating:
Summary: INTELLIGENT, LITERATE AND WITTY
Review: I WAS PREPARED TO DISMISS THIS BOOK, HAVING SEEN THE MOVIE WHICH I DIDN'T LIKE. BUT I LOVED A COUPLE OF SCHINE'S OTHER NOVELS ('ALICE' AND 'RAMEAU'S NIECE') SO I THOUGHT I'D GIVE IT A TRY. LESSON LEARNED...DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S MOVIE. THE NOVEL IS AS LITERATE, COMPLEX AND PLAYFUL AS SCHINE'S OTHER WORK AND HAS ANOTHER LEVEL OF SOULFUL SEXUALITY AND LONGING WHICH MAKES IT VERY SATISFYING. THE REVEAL AT THE END, WHICH EVEN THE MOVIE DIDN'T SPOIL FOR ME, WORKS SO BEAUTIFULLY, YOU WANT TO START OVER AGAIN JUST TO HAVE THAT PLEASURE REPEATED.
Rating: 
Summary: Wise, witty, and sweet
Review: I've always been drawn to older women-younger men relationships, and that was the main reason why I decided to try out this novel. I'm glad to say that i have NO REGRETS! 'The Love Letter' is contemplative, funny, intelligent, provocative, wise, and sexy. It was nice that there was a he-said/she-said scenario. 'The Love Letter' allows the reader to take a close-up look at the cynical,"older woman" Helen and at the earnest "younger man" Johnny. I thought it was interesting how both characters have very real flaws: Helen is a bossy, manipulative, and opinionated forty year-old while Johnny is an idealistic, sometimes immature and irresponsible twenty year-old. These are REAL people you can identify with! The writer also explores the many cultural and intellectual differences posed by the twenty years that separate Helen and Johnny - she doesn't gloss over nor does she over-dramatize the generation gap. There are many warm, quirky moments between the two unlikely lovers and you can't help but hope that everything works out for them. This novel also parades a host of colourful characters ranging from Helen's irascible grandmother and urbane mother to the mysterious Miss Skattergoods and other assorted inhabitants of the small town of Perquot. And of course, there is THE LOVE LETTER which sets everything into motion at the beginning of the novel. All these ingredients add fun and humour to an otherwise rather serious and thoughtful book. Although the story does move rather slowly, it is liberally sprinkled with clever word play, beautiful imagery and witty exchanges that make the wait worthwhile. My only real complaint is the ending which had perhaps a little less closure than I would have preferred. Definitely a book that I shall cherish and read over and over again!
Rating:
Summary: A smart, literate, elegant reading experience
Review: Schine's writing in 'The Love Letter' is deceptively simple but filled with subtle understanding of human nature and the sensual pleasures of the natural world. Consider the book's opening paragraph: "The honeysuckle was everywhere the day the letter arrived, like heat. Wild roses bloomed in hedges of tendrils and perfume. There were fat bees, dirigible bees, plump and miniature. It was a sweet, tangled morning..." Such passages recur through the book, and remind one of the small epiphanies of life that occur when we momentarily lose ourselves to joy. I loved reading this novel. While I initially disliked the character of Helen, as I continued reading I began to identify with her. She emerges from being a somewhat irritating flirt and controlling personality into a woman surprised and chagrined at finding happiness and emotional freedom with the love of a young man half her age. The reader comes away with a feeling that she has met a real, imperfect, vulnerable human being in Helen. The character of Johnny is humorously endearing and believable. Ultimately, this unconventional love story itself becomes an epiphany, one which reminds us of the joy awaiting when we embrace the gifts life brings so unexpectedly. A smart, literate, elegant reading experience, 'The Love Letter' makes us reflect-- on the essence of writing our emotions, the nature of love, the simplest pleasures of life, and our own fears, foibles and capacity for growth at any age.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: Starting the book, I didn't care much for Helen, but she grew on me. I realized how much our personalities were alike. She goes around being extremely charming and flirting with everyone while she is quite the opposite in truth. Only a select few people see her other side that is quite scalding at times, but comes and goes very quickly. My favorite things about this book were the thoughts. The thoughts of Johnny and Helen were so wonderfully written that I often felt them becoming my own. I was in this story, not just reading it. And it read so easily! I love that very little scenery description was used. I didn't want to put this book down. The torture that was Johnny and Helen thinking about each other was fantastic. The ending was a little lacking for me, however. It left me dangling there wishing there was yet another page because things didn't seem to come to a close. All in all, it's a wonderful read. Interesting and sexy without the boredom of the run of the mill romance. I saw the movie based on the book before reading this, and I have to say that the book was a thousand times better.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring, poorly written, unbelievable
Review: The biggest problem with this book is the unbelievable main character, Helen. She's forever pleased with herself and obsessed with her own charm. Consequently, she's totally unlikable. Schine's writing is unimaginative and she fails to make me care about the story.
Rating:
Summary: Boring, poorly written, unbelievable
Review: The biggest problem with this book is the unbelievable main character, Helen. She's forever pleased with herself and obsessed with her own charm. Consequently, she's totally unlikable. Schine's writing is unimaginative and she fails to make me care about the story.
Rating:
Summary: Love in the Afternoon
Review: The Love Letter reads like a slow rolling August afternoon. As the title implies, letters provide the novel with a guiding factor as well as a source of misunderstanding between the brooding yet responsive Johnny, and the domineering yet stimulating Helen. Helen, incidentally, is 42 years old and the proprietor of the independent books where Johnny is an employee. One morning, along with other forms of correspondence, Helen receives an anonymous letter declaring love, lust and certain gravitational distortion. Helen, who thrives on the short memo and the picture postcard, becomes consumed by the contents of the letter. As Helen searches for the writer, she discovers her attraction to Johnny, who is more than thrilled to jump right in. Ms. Schine devotes several pages to burning internal questions that distract from realistic thinking and play with your day. She has created a soft mystery instilled with deft observation and sensual description. Her obvious acceptance of unconventional love affairs is refreshing. The Love Letter is a passive, pleasant fumbling toward nothing.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story with a great ending
Review: This book was great. Once I started to read it, I could not put it down. I just had to find out who wrote the letter. The reason I am writing this review is that I was not disappointed at all by the ending. If I read a review of a book and see that someone was disappointed with an ending, I ususally do not buy the book. There were so many great things about this book - mentioned in the other reviews so I won't repeat. I'm giving it 5 stars because it was funny, thought-provoking, and surprising.
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