Last Letter Home: The Richard and Judy Book Club pick 2018 - Softcover

Hore, Rachel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1471156966 ISBN 13: 9781471156960

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2018

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of A Week in Paris, and A Place of Secrets, comes a timeless love story, lost in letters of the past . . .

THE RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK 2018

Can a chance encounter unlock one woman's past?

On holiday in Italy, Briony Wood becomes fascinated by the wartime story of a ruined villa hidden amongst the hills of Naples. Not only is it the very place where her grandfather was stationed as a soldier in 1943, but she also discovers that it harbours the secret of a love long lost.

Handed a bundle of tattered letters found buried at the villa, Briony becomes enraptured by the blossoming love story between Sarah Bailey, an English woman, and Paul Hartmann, a young German. The letters lead her back almost seventy years to pre-war Norfolk.

But as Briony delves into Sarah and Paul’s story, she encounters resentments and secrets still tightly guarded. All too quickly it is clear that what happened long ago under the shadow of Vesuvius, she suspects, still has the power to cause terrible pain . . .

Praise for Rachel Hore's novels:

'Compelling, engrossing and moving; a perfect holiday indulgence' SANTA MONTEFIORE‘
Fascinating, hugely readable’ JUDY FINNIGAN
‘An elegiac tale of wartime love and secrets’ Telegraph
‘A tender and thoughtful tale' Sunday Mirror
'Pitched perfectly for a holiday read' Guardian
 

About this title

About the Author:

Rachel Hore worked in London publishing for many years before moving with her family to Norwich, where she teaches publishing and creative writing at the University of East Anglia. She is married to the writer D. J. Taylor and they have three sons. Her previous novels are The Dream House, The Memory Garden, The Glass Painter's Daughter, which was shortlisted for the 2010 Romantic Novel of the Year award, A Place of Secrets, which was picked by Richard and Judy for their book club, A Gathering Storm, which was shortlisted for the RONA Historical Novel of the Year 2012 and the latest bestseller, The Silent Tide.

From the Back Cover:

On holiday with friends, young historian Briony Andrews becomes fascinated with a wartime story of a ruined villa in the hills behind Naples. Briony's grandfather had been a British soldier during the Italian campaign of 1943 in that very area. Handed a bundle of letters that were found after the war, Briony sets off to trace the fate of their sender, Sarah Bailey. As Briony begins to uncover the story, she encounters resentments and secrets still tightly guarded.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1471156966
• ISBN 13: 9781471156960
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 576