Letters From the Past continues the story of Romily Temple and the Devereux family which began in Coming Home to Island House. I haven’t read the first book, but this stands alone and you don’t need to have read it as the author fills in any necessary back story.

Each story is told from a different character’s point of view. And the Devereux family is large and complicated, so this takes a little while to get to grips with all of the characters, their relationships and secrets, but once you do the story flies along.

This is book that explores the impact that the past can have on your present, primarily through the women in the family.

Every one has secrets that are hiding or events from their past of which they are not proud. The anonymous notes that the women receive reignite their feelings and fears as they try to work out who has sent them and what the motive is.

Motherhood is also a theme that runs through all of the individual stories. Biological mothers, step-mothers, adoptive mothers and illegitimate children all feature in the book. Some of the women love motherhood but some are struggling with their feelings and the roles that society expects them to play.

Romily is the central figure and my favourite character. Despite being years younger than her now deceased husband, Jack and nearer in age to her step-children than her husband, she is charismatic, adventurous and warm-hearted. Island House remains the focal point for the Devereux family and Romily brings them together while searching for some happiness of her own. her time in Palm Springs and relationship with screenwriter Red is a really engaging part of the story.

I really loved the way that the different threads of this story come together. The range of characters means that there are some you love, some who are quite horrible and some who surprise you. The ending is satisfying without being too sentimental and neat. there is a sense that these characters continue to live on after the events in this book – so who knows, maybe we have not heard the last from the Devereux family.

Thank you Netgalley and Anne Cater for inviting me on the blog tour and giving me an advanced copy in return for an honest

This is the sequel to Coming Home to Island House and is set twenty years later in 1962. It features many of the same characters and the narrative is taken by different ones throughout. Anonymous letters are stirring up old memories, relationships are strained, family patterns are being repeated and the social norms of the time are being challenged. All of these features made this a compulsive story that I couldn't put down.

Letters From the Past is the welcome return to the village of Melstead St. Mary and Island House.

Set in 1962, Kit and Evelyn are about to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary when Evelyn receives a poison pen letter threatening to reveal a secret which could tear her marriage apart. But Evelyn is not the only one to receive a letter, several other women from the village have also been sent letters with nasty accusations. Can they discover who the writer of the letters is and the reasons behind them?

This book is a great sequel to Coming Home to Island House. An excellent family drama which was a fantastic read.

This is the sequel to Coming Home to Island House. It jumps to 1962 and follows the lives of Romily, Kit and Evelyn, Edmund and Hope plus Arthur. Once I started the book all the characters came back to me. Evelyn,Hope and Florence receive poison pen letters suggesting all is not well in their marriage, this obviously causes problems.
The story jumps from 1942 to 1962 and what happened to the Deveraux family.
This is a lovely story. I would recommend reading the first one so it clear who is who and how some members became family. My favourite character was Romily, she is the matriarch and tries to sort out everyone's problems.
I highly recommend Letters From the Past.
I have read all of Erica James' books and have enjoyed everyone.
Thank you to Netgalley for an early copy

The latest novel from Erica James promises to be a tale of family secrets and betrayal and the potential for redemption. With such a broad scope, can she really keep to this promise?

The story opens in October 1962, in the village of Melstead St Mead, as a number of local women, are horrified to receive a series of poison pen letters. Each letter suggesting that their marriage was merely a façade and not the happy vision that they present to the villagers. The arrival of the letters coincides with the 20th wedding anniversary of Evelyn and Kit, who invite both family and friends to their party. For Evelyn, one recipient of the letters, this party brings her face to face with an unexpected face from the past. Florence, another recipient of the letters in attending the party and horrified by the cruel comments that she reads. Hope, an outsider in some ways, is driven to the point of despair by her letters. It is upto the family matriarch Romily to once again take the matters into her hands and try to resolve the issues.
The storyline jumps from the present (1962) to 1942 as each woman looks back at her life and how she came to her current set of circumstances. We also see life through the eyes of several other family members.
The novel moves rapidly from the initial scene to meeting each of the family groups this is one of my issues with the novel. ‘Letters from the Past’ is a sequel to the novel ‘Coming Home to Island House’ and although it can be read as a stand alone, it is initially confusing to try and untangle the family relationships. Having read the previous book, this was not much as an issue for me, but could certainly prove confusing for a reader new to the family.
The storyline revolves around this extended Deveraux family and their relationships, both past and present and indeed there are plenty of secrets to be revealed, along with a great deal of betrayal. As for the possibility of redemption, well there are plenty of second chances aswell.

An enjoyable read, and well worth reading.

I didn't realise until after the end of this story that it was actually a sequel; this can be read perfectly well as a stand-alone novel. I have read a few other Erica James books and this is a good one. There are plenty of complex characters, family intrigues and interesting back stories. Village life is lovingly described and the 1962/3 time setting, including the Cuban missile crisis and the dreadful winter, is brought to life.
A great, involving read which is highly recommended.

This is one of those books which is packed full of everything you could possible want from a story to sweep you away.

Told from the different perspectives of various different characters you are thrown into getting to know a lot of people and quickly. I did have to go back and reread who everyone was as I was a bit lost and felt as I had not read the first novel where these characters are introduced I was at a disadvantage. However once I did this I got a sense of how they were related and something about their past I was able to involve myself fully with the book.

As letters from the here and now start landing on doormats across Melstead St Mary, you almost wish that Miss Marple would appear to solve it all for these people and make her wry observations about people's actions and reactions.

Evelyn, celebrating twenty years of marriage to Kit, is shocked to receive one which brings doubt on her actions from the past and questions about what she did during the war.

Julia, weak, feeble and under the command of her husband receives one, but she knows she has probably done something wrong anyway, she has spent all her life in repentance.

Hope, driven by her work, driven to escape when she receives a letter is driven into another state. One that everyone desires she will come out of.

Romily, the matriarch of this family. Bringing them all together, keeping them all apart where necessary and trying to live her own life.

Full of secrets, mysteries and love this really is a book which did indeed sweep me away from rural Suffolk, London, Oxford and Palm Springs. It has characters to love, loathe, trust and distrust. It made me change my mind about some and know I was completely right about others. This was a book which I invested in and it gave me an abundance of returns. Thank you Erica James, wonderful storytelling.

Love all of Erica James books. This one is just as good love the family saga and know about each of the characters helps you understand the story more

Well this is just lovely. A lovely return to Island House some twenty years later. The characters we met in the first book now show us what has happened in their lives, their memories and more. Letters - anonymous at that - are delivered which show that someone knows their darkest secrets.

Letters revealing secrets from the past is a very capivating theme and Erica james always weaves a tale of interest and fascinating.

A welcome return to Island House. We revisit Romily, Hope and Edmund , Kit and Evelyn and the rest of the family who live around Island House. It’s so clever to carry the story on 20 years later but to look back at their lives through memories so we know exactly what has happened to them in the time since the first book. Romily is still ever capable and keeping the family together but has she met her match in scriptwriter Red St Clair . So lovingly written now all I want to know is what happens to Stanley and Anneliese?

Imagine receiving a letter that exposes your deepest darkest secret. Who sent it ? Why ? How do they know ?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and how it wasn't just focused on one character and their letter but several different characters.

At times I did struggle to keep track of who is who but the perfect book for a quick read that will keep you hooked