The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant
This atmospheric dual-timeline novel tackles postpartum depression, the impossibilities of love, and the ways people harm when they mean to help. Shifting between 1951 and 2018, the story takes place primarily between London and St Mary’s, one of the Isles of Scilly (where much of the book’s moody flavor comes from the equally moody landscapes).
In 1951, new mother Esther finds herself committed to an asylum after sinking into a depression following the death of her baby. Brought to the isolated island by her husband under the guise of a holiday, Esther’s furious rage is tempered by her doctor’s compassionate concern for her happiness. In 2018, marine biologist Rachel is assigned to research bivalves on St Mary’s, where she discovers a cache of unsent letters – and tries to find the recipient. In London, Eve cares for her grandmother, a famed mountaineer, where her attempts at interviewing her grandmother for a book turn into a more intimate opportunity to learn about her family history.
Nunn manages the three separate storylines well, with sympathy and grace extended toward each woman, regardless of their choices. Love and loss are both monumental and mundane, impacted by societal restrictions of the time, and the end result is a story that is emotional without cheap manipulation, romantic but grounded in realism, and wraps up without trite neatness.
