In a world that sometimes feels frantic and abbreviated in everything it offers, where anticipation is lost with the ease of immediate gratification, and the keyboard is the tool of choice for all things written, Lynne Kolze has written a charming book about handwritten letters and how they should still have a fundamental place in our technology-centred world. And I have to say I agree.
Kolze’s focus is the writing of letters, yes – but it is so much more than that. There is no doubting her passion for the subject and her writing is precise and structured and engaging throughout. The book is split into chapters which address a particular aspect of handwritten letter-writing in turn and its many contexts. She discusses her personal enjoyment of writing them and receiving them; their history and development; their delivery; their stamps; the stationery and pens used to write them; postcards! I could go on.
Personally, I found the sections about the history of letters the most illuminating and especially the anecdotes that Kolze includes about letters in relation to known world incidences, like the Titanic and Columbus’ discovery of the New World.
But the personal relevance of letters to Kolze was also interesting and the inclusion of examples from her family’s past as well as her reflection on letters she has sent and received all added to her appeal to us readers to give snail mail a go.
There is no doubt that handwriting is a dying art but Kolze discusses pockets of die-hard letter writers who value the emotional response that the paper and its contained script can create and are making it their personal mission to spread the word (pardon the pun). Kolze puts forward a compelling argument for us to reconsider our communication options, extolling the deeper meaning that letters can engender beyond their immediate receipt.
And it is true: there is something more satisfying about a letter, more than an email or text. Whether it’s the time taken or the sentiment enclosed or the physicality of it, I don’t know but I’m sold and will be writing letters imminently, having my first recipient earmarked already.
A real homage, charmingly told and well worth a read.
This review was first published on Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC.
Scuffed Granny 