The Last Letter from Your Lover

The Last Letter from Your Lover
By: Jojo Moyes

Annoyed.

My idea of a good romance novel is not one that champions infidelity.

This book follows two women- one in the 60s, one in 2003- both involved in affairs. She writes as if we should approve of Jennifer's lover and not of Ellie's, but what makes one of the relationships 'romantic' and the other not- just because one of them wrote letters and the other doesn't? Affairs are self-centered, lustful pursuits.

Both women are dissatisfied with what they have and want something else, believing they deserve it, no matter the cost to others. And that's the thing. Affairs are not some isolated, romantic story- they affect a lot of people. So no, I'm not down with people cheating on their spouses. And I don't appreciate reading a book that seeks to compel me to root for infidelity. People don't need more whisperings in their ears questioning their marriage and what could be elsewhere. Humans are already bent towards discontentment, we don't need every book and movie creating this love utopia illusion of exciting and forbidden love as if the peak of romantic fulfillment is a sordid love affair. Pass.

To Moyes' credit, she does include an exchange between Ellie and Rory where Rory says, "Every act has a consequence, Ellie. In my view the world divides into people who can see that, and make a decision accordingly, and those who just go for what feels good at the time." So I don't know, who am I to know what message Moyes was trying to send in writing this book? But from my perspective, her story is a double standard- adultery is permissive if your situation is 'dire' enough, and wrong only if you're not getting the emotional reciprocation you deserve. Nope. Consequences don't care about your feelings. Not in the real world. They happen indiscriminately.

But I'll get off my soapbox. My only other comment is in regards to the writing style. Throughout the entire book, she would start new sections and only use pronouns like 'he' and 'she' which made it a bit confusing as to whose POV we were reading from and who was talking to who. I had to reread passages several times or refer to previous pages to figure out what she was doing. Not sure why she couldn't just throw in a name here and there for clarity.

If I'm honest, I didn't hate reading the book. After all, I did finish it. I've definitely read worse. But I don't feel like I can give it much enthusiasm because I am against the (perceived) message of the book and there are other romance novels I would recommend before this one. For example, Me Before You, another Moyes novel. Because I enjoyed that book, I will probably try another one of her novels and hope her repertoire is not limited to infidelity.