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Dearest Josephine by Caroline George
4.0

Dual timelines? Check! Epistolary fiction? Check! In Dearest Josephine by Caroline George, 1820 and 2020 don’t seem so many years apart, not when an incomplete manuscript, a collection of unsent letters, and a secluded manor in Northern England transcend the ages to hint at a star-crossed would-have-been romance.

The life and times of the 1800s differ greatly from those of the 2000s, but author Caroline George writes both periods with realism and accessibility. In these two time-separated worlds, characters find commonalities and connections. They find the spaces where their stories intersect as they navigate life in a remote estate and a love that cannot be. Dearest Josephine is complicated in terms of time and setting, and yet it is written so effectively that these things are as clear and simple as can be. Undoubtedly, the epistolary form plays an important role in making this story easy to read despite its triple plot (keep track of what’s then, what’s now, and what’s the imagination of a nobleman’s son in love).

In two-hundred-year-old letters and a novel left behind, ever-romantic Elias Roch details his experiences of life during Regency period and of his insta-love fall for the mysterious Josephine de Clare. Meanwhile, present-day Josie de Clare arrived at a manor to find herself, instead finding Elias’s letters and manuscript, which leave her wondering if it is possible, even after all these years, that she could be Elias’s elusive love.

Present-day Josie soon finds herself falling for Elias. Communicating her experiences through emails with her best friend, Faith, and text messages to local boy Oliver, Josie shares lessons learned from Elias, from the seclusion of her new life at the manor, and from the impossibility of a love that defies the constraints of logic and time.

Dearest Josephine is unique and innovative—something new on the YA scene. If you like atypical story arcs and writing styles, this one is for you!

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me with this eARC.

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