Letters never meant to be sent or kept will reveal family secrets that they hoped would never be a problem. East meets west where life could never have been so different until the need to come home unsettles everything. Families torn apart by secrets that eventually lead to healing and a fragile truce

This book is a sequel to Coming home from island house.
The story is told from the perspectives of multiple characters. It can get a bit confusing at the beginning remembering who everyone is.
As a huge fan of this author, this book didn’t disappoint me. It was written very well as all her books are.
I enjoyed the mystery that was the subject of the story.
An enjoyable read

Another cracking read from the author. She always delivers! Looking forward to the next read from her.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

A must for all those who loved ‘Coming home to island house’. Erica James picks up the stories of those wonderful characters, a mystery is revealed, a villain come good and another gets his comeuppance.A perfect curl up in the afternoon treat.

Really enjoyed this book. Steady paced, great characters, I was absorbed throughout. Will be reading more books by the author in the future!

I'm sorry I just couldn't get into this book. The description read really good but there were far too many characters to remember who was who, making it difficult to get into the story.

An easy book to read and get lost in for a day or so.

It wasn’t until I had finished this book that I realised that it was a follow up but I don’t think that I missed too much having not read the previous book. The beginning is a little complex as we are introduced to all the characters and maybe this would have been easy with the reading of the first book.

This was a light hearted family saga in style with chapters told by alternating characters. The central figure, matriarch Romily, tries to bring her family together whilst also finding a new life for herself. The focus of the story is the delivery of poison pen letters and the eventual uncovering of the truth behind their writer.

It was an enjoyable read and it does make me want to read the first book.

A beguiling, emotional and immensely enjoyable tale from a master storyteller, much-loved best-selling author Erica James’ Letters from The Past is a stirring and engrossing tale set in the sixties where the pages will simply turn themselves.

Evelyn Deveraux has been married to her husband Kit for twenty years. Although they have been married for almost two decades, their relationship has not been without its problems or struggles. The war had certainly left a profound effect on the two of them, yet the love they have for one another has never wavered and when all seemed lost and impossible, Evelyn and Kit had managed to triumph over all the obstacles that stood in their way. As proud parents of two children now making their first tentative steps into the world as young adults at university, Evelyn is looking to the future and to celebrating this milestone with her nearest and dearest – until she receives a letter in the post that threatens to shake the foundations of her entire existence. Will Evelyn’s secrets from her past end up catching up with her and destroying everything she holds dear to her heart?

Evelyn’s sister in law Hope is a much-loved author of children’s books whose stories have brought infinite pleasure to so many young people all over the world. Yet, happiness has always been something which Hope has struggled with. After the tragic death of her first husband Dieter, Hope had rebuilt the shattered fragments of her life and had been lucky to find a man who adores her and a loving family. Hope knows that she has a lot to be thankful for, but fulfilment and contentment have thus far eluded her and when she receives an anonymous letter in the post, it looks like her fragile world is about to be turned on its head yet again, leaving her frightened, vulnerable and fearful of just what may be in store for her.

Romily Deveraux-Temple has always been the mistress of her own destiny. A woman who has made her own way in the world, she has reinvented herself many times over the years from an ATA pilot during the war to a much-loved best-selling author of crime fiction. In Palm Springs to meet film producers to turn one of her creations into a movie, Romily cannot wait to return to Island House, her beautiful sanctuary and the home that means the world to her. Yet, Romily’s return to her beloved refuge is fraught with difficulty as on her return she finds herself confronted by secrets she had gone to great lengths to keep hidden. With her family in danger of being torn apart, it is up to Romily to save the day and to vanquish old ghosts that could destroy any hope she might have of a happy future for her and her loved ones.

Can these three very different women confront their past and move forward into the present unburdened and unshackled by old secrets and lies that have held them captive for so long? Or will this day of reckoning end up destroying the fabric of all of their lives forever?

Erica James’s Letters from the Past is a spellbinding family saga that is wonderfully absorbing, beautifully written and searingly emotional. Full of strongly realised characters that leap off the pages, Letters from the Past intricately weaves affecting and poignant stories sprinkled with drama, intrigue, humour and heart that will leave readers on the edge of their seats and completely and utterly enthralled by this brilliantly told tale of dangerous secrets, illicit passions and family strife.

A heart-warming, addictive and entertaining page-turner that will bring a tear to the eye and keep readers reading way past their bedtimes, Letters from The Past is the latest outstanding and uplifting tale from Erica James.

I was initially unaware that this was a sequel and I haven’t had the chance to read the first book. However, I soon got to know the large cast of characters and how they were all connected to the Devereux family.

This story is set in a small Suffolk village and features a family headed by matriarch Romily Devereux-Temple, a successful crime writer. She returns from Palm Springs to find that women close to her have been receiving poisonous pen letters. These anonymous letters threaten to expose secrets and make the recipients shed doubt upon the strength of their relationships. Romily’s compassionate nature and finely tuned detective skills are put to the test as she tries to find the malicious sender.

There is incredible warmth and individuality to the characters and a story that just takes hold of you and never lets go. This gentle, charming read is set mainly in the 1960s but also has flashbacks to two decades previously when WWII was taking place. The story exposes family secrets, forbidden love, and domestic abuse but also features beautiful romantic encounters and deeply emotional tragedies.

Erica James excels at likeable characters but she also develops extremely flawed characters equally as well. I enjoyed the mystery element from the anonymous poison pen writer, how the characters evolved over time and witnessing how romantic relationships and family loyalties progressed.

This is story-telling at it’s best!

Fabulous book, detailed and complex story line that draws you in. If you like a mystery then this is perfect as the novel follows an extended family who all have secrets and how the receipt of anonymous letters threatens to expose them all. Keeps you guessing to the end..

With many points of view taken into account, this is a story of family. As in all families, there are those we love, those we like, and those we cannot abide. All are portrayed here. Central to the novel is a grand old Sufflolk manor house called “Island House”.When poison-pen letters are distributing throughout this idyllic English village, they sew the seeds of doubt and suspicion upon their recipients – many of whom are members, or are in some way related to the Deveraux family. Family secrets are slowly revealed…

But will the Deveraux’s be able to endure their secrets scrutinized in the light of day? Many generations of the Deveraux family are drawn together after a tragic automobile accident. Will justice prevail?

MY THOUGHTS

I must confess that at first I was cast adrift by this novel due to the vast amount of characters. My attention span has been less than optimum since this pandemic has taken the world by storm. As I gradually became more familiar with the characters – and how they related to one another – I was again cast adrift, but in a different way, I was immersed in the family, the story, and the idyllic setting.

Told for the most part in 1962, the story has several flashbacks to the war years. Romily Deveraux-Temple, a mystery novelist, was also a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the war. Her story was fascinating and she is the matriarchal figure that ties the many threads of the story together.

Evelyn Deveraux, a mathematician, was also heavily involved in the war effort. She was a code breaker at Bletchley Park. A fact that she has kept secret.

Past mistakes and past loves resurface adding interest and suspense to what is already an absorbing family saga.

Before reading this, my first Erica James novel, I hadn’t realized that “Letters from the Past” is in fact a sequel to an earlier novel, “Coming Home to Island House” which is set during the war years, some two decades earlier. This in no way marred my enjoyment of this novel, but if I had read the other book first I might not have had so much trouble initially with the myriad characters. Rest assured this book reads fine as a stand-alone.

With elements of historical fiction, romance, and even mystery, this novel will be greatly appreciated by all who enjoy compelling women’s fiction.

Highly recommended! (4.5 stars rounded up)

Thanks Netgalley, Publisher and the Author. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the storyline, the characters and ws sad when I finished it. Would highly recommend.

"Letters from the Past" opens with some of the women living in Melstead St Mead receiving a series of awful poison pen letters. Evelyn's, who's just celebrating her 20th marriage anniversary to Kit, brings doubt on her actions from the past. Hope's, who belongs to the family but feels like an outsider, drives her to the point of despair. Florence's brings doubt to her marriage and makes her feel horrified by the words. Julia's, who's under the command of her husband, sees her letters as a punishment for something wrong that she's probably has done in the past. And as all of them have secrets they're not proud of, those letters bring back the fears. It's up to Romily, the matriarch of the family, to try to work out who is sending those letters and why.

I wasn't aware that this book is a sequel to "Coming Home to Island House", and as never, not for a single moment during reading this story did it come to my mind that perhaps there have been something before, my verdict is yes, you can read it as a stand - alone, as the author has truly brilliantly told the characters' background stories, and I really didn't have a feeling that I may be missing on something, so imagine my surprise when after finishing this book I've discovered there is more! And this is the a bonus - you can as soon as possible read "Coming Home to Island House", so it's a win - win, no?

There are many, many characters in the book, and I really mean many. Somewhere around the middle I started to recognise who is who and to whom they belong, but to be absolutely honest with you, there were some characters that I had no idea who they are till the end of the book. Maybe an introduction at the beginning would be an idea? To keep them all under control? This, however, didn't spoil my joy in reading, yes, I needed a moment to think back to who they are but other than that, it worked.
Because of the number of characters, there are many storylines running through the book and hats off to the author for keeping them all so clear. But the huge cast of characters is actually also a strength of this novel that is told from multiple points of view and it was absolutely gripping to hear the thoughts through different voices. Those are characters that you quickly grow very fond of, that you start to love and hate, trust and distrust, that will surprise you and you'll be engaged in their lives. The Devereux family is extensive and each member comes with their own background, stories and friends and the author has managed to develop all of them in the most intriguing way, making them breathing, living characters whose stories broke my heart and shocked me.

The poison pen letters are a backbone of the story, as everything started with them this time, and I, probably just like the characters receiving them, was afraid that any moment another one can arrive. I had so many theories about who might have been sending them but - needles to say - I didn't guess who is sending them, and I must admit the big reveal truly surprised me, but it was also so logical and it explained many things.

As the story jumps between 1942 and 1962, there are also some elements of historical fiction that added so much colour to this book and that I, personally, truly enjoyed. In the end the author has managed to weave all the strands of the story seamlessly together without making them feel too forced or too sentimental.

I think this might be Erica James's best book yet. I was deeply invested in the characters' lives and lost myself in everything that was unfolding before my eyes. It is full of secrets, lies, mysteries, intrigues and shocking events that swept me away to Suffolk, London and Palm Springs. Erica James is a wonderful storyteller, her words have magic in them and you'll be quickly enchanted and transported into the characters' worlds. "Letters from the Past" is a book exploring the impact of the past, its strength to affect your present life, and it was so beautifully and realistically written that there were moments that I had my heart in my mouth. A truly brilliant read that I highly recommend.

😊 A glorious read from one of my favourite authors, Erica James. Although this novel was a slight departure from her more usual romance genre, her stories are always very substantial reads and Letters From the Past was no exception.

Letters From the Past is the bestselling author's latest novel, an immersive, sophisticated and appealing story. The novel features Evelyn Devereux and her husband Kit, living in the idyllic Suffolk village of Melstead St Mary. Kit is planning their 20th wedding anniversary party. It is 1962, but as they prepare to celebrate, Evelyn receives an anonymous letter that threatens to unravel the secrets she's kept hidden for many years...

This book is the continuation of the story of Romily Temple and the Devereux family which began in Coming Home to Island House. I haven't read the first book yet, but this one, Letters From the Past, stands alone and the author adeptly provides the necessary back story.

Each chapter is narrated from a different character’s point of view. The Devereux clan is large and complicated, so it takes some time to establish the who's who, their respective relationships, links and secrets, but once I had the story zipped along. The storyline jumps from the present (1962) to 1942 as each woman or family member looks back at their life and how they arrived at their current juncture. The wide variety of eclectic, cross-generational characters added enrichment and interest to the story. I certainly got to fully appreciate the author's impressive characterisation talents. Some you will love, others you may even loathe, a few are flawed or vulnerable or might surprise you. One of my favourites was Romily, a central player in the novel who was spirited, adventurous and warmhearted. Island House, in the fictional village of Melstead St Mary was the focal point for the Devereux family and Romily brought them all together while seeking some happiness of her own.

The idyllic country setting was so beautifully and vividly depicted by Erica James that I felt I could have been present. The stylish, evenly paced plotline and the clarity of the writing made it easy to follow and my desire to see it through didn't waver. This is a story about exposed secrets motherhood, tragedy, forbidden love, second chances and domestic abuse, but also many more topics. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery element from the anonymous poison pen writer, too Letters From the Past was such a good novel, I didn't want to put it down and I have been inspired to read Coming Home to Island House.

A gentle, charming, very highly recommended novel that is well worth five stars. My thanks must go to Erica James for writing such an impressive and joyous book! 😊

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my request from Orion Publishing Group via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

I have loved Erica James' books for over a decade but this book did not hit the mark for me (unfortunately). Perhaps because it is so long since I read the prequel and even though this is a sequel that can be read as a standalone I struggled to get through it.

The premise of the book is an interesting one, multiple point of view and numerous unknown letters are sent to our narrators and then the mystery begins.. however I had no interest in who has sent the letters (or why) and frequently confused the characters and forgot who was who - which very rarely happens when I read.

This is a real shame as I think James' writing is so reliable and something I can get swept up in but this one did not achieve this for me. Hopefully her next book will return to the books that I once loved.

This was another wonderful, absorbing read from this talented author, which had a bit of an old fashioned feel to it as it involves letter writing- though not the type of letters you’d want to receive!

I absolutely loved the gorgeous sounding country setting for this book. The descriptions were so wonderfully vivid that I felt I could perfectly see them in my mind. I found myself wishing that I lived in such a beautiful place, especially as it had the lovely close knit community too.

The poisoned letters helped create a great starting point for the story and helped allow a lot of the other storylines to naturally develop which I thought was very clever. There are definitely a lot of secrets being hidden and I so enjoyed following the different characters and finding out about the skeletons hiding in their closet.

The mystery of who was behind the mystery was an intriguing one and I must admit one that kept me guessing throughout the book. It was great fun trying to figure out who it was and why they were doing it.

Overall I thought this was a very absorbing, hugely enjoyable read which I will be recommending to everyone. It’s actually the sequel to a previous book which I hadn’t realised but everything you need to know is explained in the story so it can be read as a standalone.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Orion for my copy of this book via Netgalley.

Such a captivating story and beautifully written. I loved how the stories entwined to become one. This book dragged out my every emotion right from the beginning. Wonderful

A new book from Erica James is always a welcome treat even more so when you started reading Letters From the Past and discover it is a follow up to Coming Home to Island House which I read and adored several years ago. This new book can easily be read as a standalone as Erica does a fantastic job of filling in new readers as to the background stories to all the various characters and to be honest it also served as a refresher for me. Admittedly there are an awful lot of characters introduced in the beginning and perhaps some people might find it confusing to keep track. But once this has been done the book really gets going and many new story lines are established and developed over the course of what proves to be another wonderful read from the author. I had always felt that these characters deserved a further outing and a continuation of their story and I was pleased to read in the end notes that Erica had always planned to write a follow on book but was simply waiting for the right idea to arise. It felt like I was returning to a familiar setting with characters I had previously been deeply invested in and now we get to see how some of the younger generation as mentioned in the previous book are fairing and also how old familiar faces are coping with all the changes that continue to arise.

Romily, the widow of Jack Devereux, still remains the matriarch of the family and the glue that holds all the pieces together. She is the person whom everyone turns to for advice in times of trouble and strife. She is the stalwart and steady one although we do get a deeper insight into her experiences during the war and how she is getting on now. She is clear headed and knows how to deal with a crisis letting commonsense prevail rather than hysteria manifest itself ten fold. When we meet her again she is in America, in Palm Springs, and about to meet with a script writer in the hopes that one of her novels can be turned into a film. She has had a very successful writing career and is a wise and wily woman who won't just hand her book over to anyone. She encounters Red St.Clair but they don't hit it off the right foot, instead they rub each other up the wrong way but even though this occurs the reader can still see the chemistry that is there waiting to be ignited between the pair.

I desperately wanted Romily to find some love and happiness in her life having been on her own since Jack's death. She is always there for everyone else and can be relied upon to solve problems and to probe that little deeper to uncover the mysteries as to what is going on. There is a big mystery that kept me gripped throughout the book and it was as if the characters were waiting for Romily to return to Melstead St. Mary and Island House before they could join together the pieces of the puzzle and for happiness to once again be restored. I felt now was the time that Romily should put herself forward and seek some contentment and long lasting joy for herself as she has put her own personal happiness on the back burner for quite some time. But she must look to the past and events and memories that still haunt her before she can truly accept what is waiting for her in the present.

Evelyn Dvereux is married to Kit, Romily's stepson, and they are about to throw a big party to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. But Evelyn is on edge as a nasty surprise has arrived in the post, a poison pen letter containing a damning statement if proven to be true. Said statement really sets the reader thinking about all the possible conundrums from the fallout if people discover the contents. Evelyn can't believe this is happening to her and wonders who could be targeting her and what could that person possibly gain from such vindictive behaviour? I loved how this turn of events for Evelyn lead to her recollections working at Bletchley Park during the war, the details of which she has kept secret for many years. This really added even more of a historical flavour to the book and made me enjoy it even more as I love historical fiction. But its not only Evelyn receiving letters, it seems several women in the village receive numerous letters too over the course of the book. The only problem is they don't confide in each other and each woman believes it is only happening to her. Florence, who works as a housekeeper for Romily and is married to local baker Billy, gets some unexpected letters in the post. But to be honest she was the character that concerned me the least as to why she was a target. She just didn't grab my attention whereas Hope, Kit's sister, her angle to to the overall storyline was really interesting.

Hope is a very successful children’s author who loves nothing more than locking herself away and writing as much as possible but when she opens the post one day and reads the message in her letter, her muse deserts her. She starts to question everything in her life. She second guesses things that she has taken for granted and the darkness starts to overwhelm her once more as it has done so in the past. She always fears and thinks the worst under normal circumstances so this has only aggravated her even further. Is her husband, local doctor Edmund, exactly who he says he is, the loyal and loving man she married? Has she neglected adopted daughter Annelise for two long and now when Annelise needs her the most she is not there for her. Things conspire and Hope faces the greatest challenge in her life. Annelise herself, now a student in Oxford, finds herself thrown to the lions so to speak as love has ruled her heart instead of a clear head. She is torn between a rock and a hard place and is seeking guidance but the very person who wants to offer it to her is right under her nose but will she see it or perhaps said person will be left to deal with their own traumas and issues?

Isabella is another member of the family whose mother was the illegitimate child of Jack Devereux's brother but she has become one of the family. She is an actress in London but when she meets someone who unexpectedly arrives at Evelyn and Kit's party, her life is turned upside down. Is what she has been searching for out there or will it cause untold distress to many family members? The issue of the letters provides the backbone of the story from which many other strands spread out all of which are very interesting and engaging and keep the reader guessing until the very last minute. I didn't actually twig who was the culprit and why until just before the big reveal but the fact that this happened open many doors and thought processes for various characters many of which had internal battles to deal with.

Kit and Hope's brother Arthur was a character I detested in the previous book and in this instance my hatred for him grew even more. He is one of the worst characters I have ever read. His cruelty towards his elder son Ralph and younger son Charlie is unbelievable. Not to mention the way he treats his third wife Julie. She was like a lamb to the slaughter in that she took all the hard blows she was dealt with and did everything she was ordered to do by Arthur. I wanted her to get some backbone and stand up for herself but she was so scared of stepping out of line and doing the wrong thing that she became a shadow of the woman she once was prior to marrying Arthur.

Letters from the Past is another triumph for Erica James. There is so much going on here that you easily lose yourself in everything that is unfolding. Yes the poison pen letters provide us with the bare bones of the story but they allow so much more to spill forth and I loved reading of all the different characters and what was going on in their personal lives. The further you got into the book you just knew that sooner or later some home truths were going to be shared and that things were going to come to a head with either disastrous results or perhaps things did really need to get out in the open? Romily remains my favourite character, she is that rare kind of character who stabilises everything and is someone you would wish to meet in real life. I really enjoyed how all the strands of the story were eventually woven together and it showed how Erica James has written a book with great substance and multi faceted characters where intrigue abounds to reveal connections between the past and the present.

I’ve heard of the author before but have never read her work. I have no idea why. If Letters from the Past is anything to go buy, I’ve clearly been missing out. I will definitely read more of her work. I love books that use multiple narrators and / or a non-linear narrative. This book has both so was really looking forward to reading it. I was not disappointed. The concept at the centre of the book, a nasty anonymous letter that threatens to expose secrets and shake up lives is not a new one but I enjoyed the way it is handled in this book. I loved the way the books moves between different POV’s and timelines, slowly revealing the truth and the links between past and present. I was absorbed in this book from page one. Highly recommended.