Cathy Bonidan

I truly enjoy an epistolary novel, and when it is about a book it makes it even more interesting!
Set primarily in France, a woman finds a manuscript in a hotel nightstand. She returns it to its author, but is surprised when he advises her that he lost the manuscript years earlier, and only wrote to p.156, and the ending was not his. This causes the woman to find out where the manuscript had traveled, and why after all these years did it resurface.
This is a story of relationships, friends, lovers, secrets, and a mystery. I enjoyed the correspondence and the unraveling story of the manuscript and the lives it touched. I look forward to reading more by this author.… (mais)

Simultaneously a love letter to manuscripts and letter writing! One receives the 1st hint reading …

”To all the books we’ve read. To all those we have yet to read. Because like sandmen, they sprinkle into our daily lives a few words or phrases that work their way into our subconscious over time. And change us. Discreetly, but irrevocably.”

Anne-Lise Briard was tickled to discover a manuscript in the nightstand drawer of her room at the Beau Rivage Hotel on the Brittany coast as she had forgotten to bring a book with her to read on vacation. As books are special to her she takes care to return the abandoned manuscript with a letter as thankfully there was an address tucked between the mid-point pages. In taking that action Anne-Lise couldn’t possibly have imagined how her life would irrevocably be different from that moment forward.

I love epistolary novels and to discover this #hiddengem felt as wondrous to me as I imagine Anne-Lise felt discovering a manuscript to read in a hotel nightstand drawer instead of empty hours ahead. The correspondence built the story letter by letter and added either the gravity of silence until the next letter was received or the sparks of suspense or the twinkles of joy when a letter was answered promptly. To have multiple characters developed through their letter-writing styles was fascinating and lyrical. I didn’t foresee the twist at the end and that made this novel all the more magical for me. My heartfelt appreciation for the beautiful achievements of the author and translator for lovely reading hours.

If you have already enjoyed the novel, may I suggest this interview: https://theavidpen.com/the-lost-manuscript-with-author-cathy-bonidan/ If you haven’t yet read the novel, I can only give you my highest recommendation to enjoy this literary delight!… (mais)

I thought this was an interesting story and a quick read. The further you read in this book, the more determined you are -- as the lead character is -- to see it through to completion and discover how in the world an old half-finished manuscript randomly touched so many lives. The author's conceit was to present the story in the form of letters written between a members of a growing cast of characters (with a couple of emails thrown in for good measure). Given enough letters, the reader gets to know these characters - their histories, foibles, talents, desires, and more. My only problem with that was that each letter writer was unrealistically skilled at something (writing letters) few people spend time doing in this day and age.… (mais)