Book Review: The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
Three siblings, a family B&B and boxes of letters written every Wednesday: a student review of Jason F. Wright’s novel.
The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright was just a book to read when I first saw it. I have to admit, I judged this book by its cover. Once I realized how detailed and emotional this story really is, it became my instant favorite.
The story told is about the reunion of three siblings when their parents pass away. Many people help them during their trials but one very important family friend named Rain joins in helping the three grieve and move on past the deaths. Malcolm, the youngest of the Coopers, travels back from the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil to oversee his loving parents’ funeral. Samantha, the middle of the trio, is a police officer in the small town of Woodstock though she was once a NYC aspiring actress. Lastly, Matthew, the oldest and most promising, is attempting to keep his siblings together while trying to adopt a child with his wife, Monica. Together, these friends stay at their parents’ B&B during the process of sorting out the will left by their father Jack. When they stumble upon boxes of handwritten letters their father wrote to their mother, Laurel, every Wednesday, every week, their family’s history seems more complicated than meets the eye. Drama, love, fighting, and bonding can only sum up what these close friends and family experience while putting Jack and Laurel to rest once and for all.
Within the first five minutes of reading this, I was automatically hooked. The book tells how Jack and Laurel come to pass away. It was a sad way to end their lives. The two were deeply in love and could not be separated, so it only seemed okay for them to die in each other’s arms in the night. Their love is what keeps the book going from start to finish. The love that those two had for each other also manages to keep Malcolm, Matthew, and Samantha together through the whole process.
That’s what this book is about; love. Love is what brought these different siblings together to do their parents justice. It is what kept them in the same house without killing each other. It resonated throughout the whole novel.
Although this book has its share of long-lost-lovers, it has a personal side. Malcolm is still trying to find himself during the whole process. Coming back from Brazil only to find a chaotic situation and painful memories, he has to deal with a new piece of information that changes almost everything. I love his perspective on the whole situation because he is the one telling the story and has the most conflict out of all of the Coopers.
If you’re deeply interested in love, conflict, bonding, and emotion, I highly suggest this book. It reaches out and drags you into the story. A person who enjoys a little family conflict would definitely enjoy reading this one.
“I really liked the whole idea of the book; how it ties the older generation with the newer generation. I really like how the characters deal with grief.” (Abby Wardell, 9th Grade)
No matter your taste or style, you should really look into this book.
