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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Letters to the End of Love by Yvette Walker
4.0
‘I don’t know, these letter were supposed to be about you, and me, they were supposed to be my gift to you ..’
In this novel, told though a series of letters, Yvette Walker explores love and loss in the lives of three couples. While the letters come from different places and different times (Bournemouth in 1948, Cork in 1969, Perth in 2011) a form of love - past or present, ended, ending or continuous - is at the centre of each relationship.
In the Bournemouth letters, John (a retired English physician) writes to his lost love David (a German artist). John recalls the time he and David shared in Vienna during the 1930s. John's letters are prompted by the visit of a man carrying a message from David, and are John's way of coming to terms with the loss of David as a victim of the Nazis. Without his soul mate, John is and remains incomplete.
`You walk back to a place you once were, to find someone else there instead.'
In Cork, Dmitri (an exiled Russian painter) writes to his wife Caithleen (an Irish writer).Both are struggling with Dimitri's fatal illness, and the imminent threat of separation. Caithleen has requested that they write to each other as a means of recording `the ordinary things, ordinary poetry' of the four decade span of their relationship. The certainty of the past can be held against the uncertainty of the future.
`I love your emails but this letter of yours, it breathes.'
In Perth, two women are struggling in their relationship. Grace is a bookseller who stays close to home, while Lou is always travelling as part of the entourage of a musician who is said to be `the new Dylan'. The correspondence, by letter and by eMail is initiated by Grace and covers both the past - memories involving minutiae - a longing for each other's company, and future aspirations. Can these letters lead to a strengthening of Lou and Grace's relationship?
Paul Klee's painting `Ad Marginem' (1930) has significance for each of the three couples, and is the one connection between each set of letters. Art has its own power.
In Ms Walker's writing, John, Dmitri, Caithleen, Grace and Lou each have their own unique voice. I found it hard to put the novel down, as I wanted to find out more about each character and whether writing these letters would bring them the understanding they were each seeking. Each story is personal; events (whether small or large, personal or global) have an impact.
I enjoyed reading this novel, and when it ended I wanted more. These characters came alive for me and their life journeys were important.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In this novel, told though a series of letters, Yvette Walker explores love and loss in the lives of three couples. While the letters come from different places and different times (Bournemouth in 1948, Cork in 1969, Perth in 2011) a form of love - past or present, ended, ending or continuous - is at the centre of each relationship.
In the Bournemouth letters, John (a retired English physician) writes to his lost love David (a German artist). John recalls the time he and David shared in Vienna during the 1930s. John's letters are prompted by the visit of a man carrying a message from David, and are John's way of coming to terms with the loss of David as a victim of the Nazis. Without his soul mate, John is and remains incomplete.
`You walk back to a place you once were, to find someone else there instead.'
In Cork, Dmitri (an exiled Russian painter) writes to his wife Caithleen (an Irish writer).Both are struggling with Dimitri's fatal illness, and the imminent threat of separation. Caithleen has requested that they write to each other as a means of recording `the ordinary things, ordinary poetry' of the four decade span of their relationship. The certainty of the past can be held against the uncertainty of the future.
`I love your emails but this letter of yours, it breathes.'
In Perth, two women are struggling in their relationship. Grace is a bookseller who stays close to home, while Lou is always travelling as part of the entourage of a musician who is said to be `the new Dylan'. The correspondence, by letter and by eMail is initiated by Grace and covers both the past - memories involving minutiae - a longing for each other's company, and future aspirations. Can these letters lead to a strengthening of Lou and Grace's relationship?
Paul Klee's painting `Ad Marginem' (1930) has significance for each of the three couples, and is the one connection between each set of letters. Art has its own power.
In Ms Walker's writing, John, Dmitri, Caithleen, Grace and Lou each have their own unique voice. I found it hard to put the novel down, as I wanted to find out more about each character and whether writing these letters would bring them the understanding they were each seeking. Each story is personal; events (whether small or large, personal or global) have an impact.
I enjoyed reading this novel, and when it ended I wanted more. These characters came alive for me and their life journeys were important.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith