It already has been several years ago that I was introduced to Lucinda Riley’s books. This was with – of course – the “Seven Sisters” series which is huge here in the Netherlands. All instalments got to #1 in our best seller list the week after their release. Besides this very popular series, this author has written so many more books. One of those is The Love Letter. Unfortunately Riley passed away in 2021 from cancer. However, this book has been on my TBR for a long time now and I finally managed to read it.

About the book

The Love Letter by Lucinda Riley
Published by Macmillan on November 1, 2018
Pages: 590
ISBN: 9781509825042
Genres: Adult, General fiction, Mystery, Romance

From the internationally bestselling author of The Olive Tree comes a thrilling novel full of secrets, lies and unforgettable twists…
1995, London.
When Sir James Harrison, one the greatest actors of his generation, passes away at the age of ninety-five he leaves behind not just a heartbroken family and a wealth of memorabilia from his long career but also a secret so shocking, so devastating that it could change everything…
Joanna Haslam is an ambitious young journalist, assigned to cover the legendary actor’s funeral. The great and the good of the celebrity world will be there. But Joanna stumbles on something dark beneath the glamour: the mention of a letter Harrison has left behind, the contents of which he was desperate to conceal. As she gets closer to tracking down the source, she realises that there are other very interested parties. And they’ll stop at nothing to reach the letter before she does.
This title was originally published as Seeing Double.

My review

Expectations

Besides all books in the “Seven Sisters” series, I read two of Riley’s stand alones. These were The italian Girl and The Angel Tree. I enjoyed these books equally and therefore I expected the same for The Love Letter. I was hoping for a beautiful historical fiction novel with a dual timeline narrative, where both timelines come together in the end. Well, that didn’t happen here. I think I just had the wrong expectations, but that was quite surprising.

Characters

This book has so many characters and most of them get their own POV. However, there are three main characters here. One of them is Joanna, a journalist working for a local newspaper who coincidentially receives an old letter which she wants to further research. Unfortunately for her, people are on the hunt for this letter because it will cause a huge scandal when this information gets out. Furthermore, Zoë and Marcus Harrison play an important role since their grandfather is the recepient of this letter. naturally, Joanna and the Harrison siblings get in touch a lot. This is not bad and actually quite logical. Besides these characters, other supportive ones make their way into this book. The most important one is Simon, both Joanna’s best friend and secret agent responsible for finding the letter and prevent Joanna from investigating further. Because of the many characters, there is little time and space to get to know them in depth. They stay quite flat and usually character development is Riley’s strongest point. Furthermore, Joanna annoyed me a lot, because she is way too naive for her own good. This naivety can get her in serious trouble and personally I don’t think a journalist should be as naive like her.

Writing

This book has originally been written in 1998 under the author’s real name, Lucinda Edmonds. however, it never got published back then because a book about an alternate version of the British monarchy is quite controversial in the UK. Years later it still got published and that’s the version I have read. Despite this book being quite old, I didn’t notice this when reading. I was able to finish this book quite quickly. However, the quantity of characters give of a quite messy vibe at the start. Once you get the hang of it, it’s hard to put the book down.

Plot

I have to admit that it took me a while before I was intrigued by this book. At the start I was confused, especially by the multiple characters. Furthermore, this is a totally different book than I’m used to from Riley. It’s definitely not a historical fiction novel, it fits the literary thriller genre much better. Joanna receiving this secret lve letter and wanting to further investigate sets a lot in motion and at certain points, these events are thrilling. This intrigued me that much that I wanted to keep reading. I wasn’t really satisfied with the ending nonetheless, because it feels like it’s an open ending. The final line only strengthens this suspision and I can’t find a sequel anywhere. I hate open endings with a passion so this is quite unfortunate. Furthermore, I didn’t understand several revelations which are quite important.

Final thoughts

The Love Letter by Lucinda Riley is a book I thoroughly enjoyed, despite some negatives. The quantity of characters give none of them the chance to get elaborated in depth. Therefore, they stay quite shallow. The plot on the other hand is intriguing and the writing is easy to follow. However, open endings are not my cup of tea. I’m certainly picking up some of this author’s other stand alone novels, because there still are a few on my TBR.