Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

Seven of us sat down to discuss this 'epistolary' (there is always a learning outcome for me at book group and this time round that is: a book written in letters). 

Anyone 'listening in' would be forgiven for thinking they were at a Dibley Parish Council meeting as the 'yes but', 'no but' discussion unfolded. 

We passed the baton back and forth as we tried to describe our feelings toward this book." It was bitty, but good to read in short chunks." "I wanted more about Skye, but got to know it as the book progressed" (and, after all, the author is American and only spent a week there herself). It was easy to dip in and out of, but "it felt rude to read other people's letters" (that means it must have been well written to feel so real, came the retort). "The first half wasn't very real, but the second half was so". "It was a bit too 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin' but if you haven't read that book you wouldn't notice". And so on...

The beauty of a book group is that the simple act of sharing the experience often helps one to realise how much value has been taken from the simple act of reading a book even when, perhaps, you did not realise that at the time. As our discussion continued our sheer enjoyment of this book, the characters and the story that unfolds became apparent to us all.

The little snippets of the harsh reality of island life were enough to support the story and our craving for more will have to be fulfilled through another story of Skye. Here, in this book, we found (when Margaret visited) that Skye is bigger than we might have thought. We learned that the women of Skye were hardy and independent (through the descriptions of Elspeth's roof blowing off and her trouser wearing) as they were often left on Skye as their men left to fish or (at this time) went to war.

We also rediscovered the beauty of letters. These days of text and Facebook and email have led us to forget how wonderful it is to get a letter and the anticipation of receiving a reply to a letter sent. We did feel the letters between Elspeth and David were delivered back and forth surprisingly quickly. 

Of the characters we thought:

• Elspeth was witty and intelligent and we wanted to know more about her e.g. how was she educated? what was her financial situation? 
• Finlay had a fabulous sense of humour
• Harry was a supportive friend throughout and 'the socks' were an inspiration
• Margaret meddled but that was OK as it turns out
• David (Davey) was a bit immature
• Iain could have handled things better

So, would we recommend this book? a resounding 'YES' and when you read it find someone to talk about it with. 

Our next book and meeting dates is on Thursday 20th March 2014 when we will be discussing Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin. We will meet at 8.00pm in The Hundred of Ashendon and Felicity has kindly volunteered to 'host'.

And finally a recommendation from member's experience: give AbeBooks a try as a good and often less expensive alternative to Amazon for used books: www.abebooks.co.uk