Member Reviews

I thought that the book had a great potential - lost letters which William and other members of the Dead Letters Depot try to reconcile with their intended recipients, quirky characters,... I thoroughly enjoyed its language and small snippets of people's stories those letters presented, But I was really expecting something more quirky, unusual and different. Unfortunately, despite the early promise, the book soon moved towards a story about a failing relationship and search for the greener grass. I was disappointed, as this was not what I was hoping for, but would definitely read more by the author, as I thought It was a really lovely written book.

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I loved the premise of this book - the lost letters depot and the stories behind them and if anything I’d have liked more of these. The story of William and his wife Clare was very realistic and I’m sure will strike a chord for many people who’ve been married for a few years, but it wasn’t always easy to read for that reason. William’s search for Winter was interesting but I did feel his finding of the letters a bit far fetched and the ending lost me a bit. I liked it but didn’t love it.

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I was intrigued by the description of this book and just love the idea of a letter detective seeking to reunite lost mail with its rightful owners.
In this book, our detective is William Woolf and he is just so endearing. It is worth noting that the other department 'detectives' were also interesting and I think including them a little more would have added to the book, they all felt like there were stories to tell!
We see that William is in a fading marriage and he is entranced by mysterious love letters from someone named only as Winter; this leads him to look at his life and consider what he is looking for. William and his wife Clare both appear older and more world-weary than I think the author meant them to be and I would have liked to see more detail on the department and what they find with slightly less of Clare and William as a couple. It was a charming book with some characters that, I feel, have the potential for further stories to explore

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This was a really good book, different to most things I have read before and the story is really good too. I don't have anything bad to say about this, everyone should give this a try.

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William Woolf works at the Dead Letters Depot, solving the mysteries behind lost mail. An intriguing idea, I wish there had been more of the story devoted to the work done there. The marital troubles faced by Wiiliam and his wife Clare form the other strand of the story as we jump back to discover how they met and follow their lives in the present day. An enjoyable read. Thanks NetGalley!

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I loved the premise of this book, which promised to be delving into the stories behind the lost letters of the title, which William Woolf comes across in his job at the post office dead letters department. But this quickly turned into just another story about a failing marriage, and the lost letters seemed to have very little to do with turning that around. A missed opportunity for producing something far more original, I felt.

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Okay, so I didn’t know what to expect before I read this. The cover caught my eye and then the title. I’ve read books about missing, found letters but I was interested in this take on a popular trope. I was drawn in from the first page; the characters, the words, the colour and I read in two sittings.

The writing is strong and fluid. The idea well-plotted and the characters chiselled to the bone. I loved that the novel spanned both England and Dublin, my home town. It was delicious having a mental walk, back down memory lane as we follow William on his quest. This is a book primarily about relationships, a tricky subject at the best of times and William is having the worst time of his life.

An easy 5 🌟 and in competition for my best read of 2018.

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A slow burn story of the small (ish) lives we can allow ourselves to lead, where everything irritates and is no longer an amusing trait.

"was real romance just persevering when times were hard, hidden in the daily domestic rituals of a shared life."

This element of the book was beautifully portrayed.

But.

Overall, I found the book to be slightly disappointing form the hype. I expected to love it and award it 5 stars, But I don't and I haven't.

A nice read but by the end I found the whole 'Winter' concept to be annoying especially after William ignored the big clue with the photographs. And I found the denouement unsatisfactory.



PS. 3 foot in size Grandfather clocks are known as Grandmother clocks! We have a beautiful one on our wall.

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I enjoyed reading The Lost Letters of William Woolf, while never really becoming engrossed or particularly engaged in it. I found the two main characters to be dull and not really likeable, although I loved the concept of mysterious lost letters. I’d have preferred the focus to be more about the stories behind the letters, almost in short story form. Not a favourite for me.

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I think this is a really hard one to review. There were gorgeous passages in it that had me reading them over and over again. Part of the story had me entranced but another had me puzzled and not convinced. I would recommend this book.

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William works in the Dead Letters Depot, as a detective who tries to reunite post with its recipient - perhaps the address is only partially legible, or there's only a name. A bit of a love story, a bit of a mystery, although not sure I'll remember much about it in a few weeks.

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I really, really wanted to rate this book higher, as the premise is brilliant. William Woolf works at the Dead Letters Depot as a letter detective in the 1980s - he tries to get letters and parcels to their destination when the names and addresses have worn off, have been written out incorrectly or haven't actually been specified at all. Back at home, his wife Clare is struggling - her life has not turned out the way she wanted it to, and she's wanting something more. The marriage is clearly in trouble. Meanwhile, William starts to find letters addressed to 'My Great Love' (someone she is yet to meet) from a woman named Winter and starts a quest to find the mysterious lady.
The first half of this book was brilliant - I thoroughly empathised with Clare and her struggles, whilst also being really intrigued by William's job and the tasks he was doing. To begin with, this appeared to be a book where both protagonists misunderstood each other and only we knew the truth. However, as the book continued, it got a little lazy. Big plot revelations seemed to be brought about through ridiculous coincidences, and Clare's character merged into the background. I also didn't really like the way a minor character was brought back into the story near the end as a way of explaining it all - again, it seemed like too much of a coincidence.
For a book which had such a lovely pace about it at the start, the ending seemed rushed and a little unfulfilling. The author appears to be in a hurry to tie everything up with a neat bow, whereas I would have prefer something slightly more gentle.
Despite the ending, I did feel sad to have finished the book, and actually have an appetite to read more about William, Clare and Winter. In a way, I wish the story had been split over 2 books.
This would make a lovely holiday read for this summer - I just wish the ending had been better!

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I loved the premise of this book, and I would certainly pick it up in a bookshop, but actually found it didn't flow very well. The basis of the secret letters was not explored enough for me and the characters didn't end up with enough depth. Just not my type of read in the end.

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William Woolf works as a kind of detective in the Dead Letters Depot, dealing with letters which for one reason or another it’s not been possible to deliver. The work is satisfying but it’s not the life he planned for himself, as a writer. His wife, earning more than he does, is irritated by his settling for such a dead-end job rather than writing the great work he planned. Their marriage is in big trouble. Then William starts to find a series of letters, each unaddressed and always in the same kind of envelope. The letters begin, ‘My Great Love’ and are written by someone writing as if her ‘great love’ is out there somewhere but she just hasn’t met him yet. William becomes obsessed with these letters, searches for them in the post bags, starts to wonder if he could be the mysterious great love, even though he is still in love with his wife.

I found the details of the work at the depot interesting and cheered William’s best results at reuniting a letter with its intended recipient. The attempt to track the writer of the mysterious blue letters is rather creepy. I found it irritating that two people who had loved each other since their student days seemed set on wrecking their marriage. As with Dear Mrs Bird, I felt that the letters alone made an interesting story, without the surrounding baggage.

The Lost Letters of William Woolf will be out in July and I read it thanks to Penguin/Michael Joseph and NetGalley.

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The lost letters of William Woolf is a heartwarmingly sweet story that draws you in from the start and keeps you going until the very last page. William has, for me the best job ever. He works for the dead letter office where letters that have been damaged or miss addressed are sent. His job is to try to find the owner of the letter. He's married but this isn't a loved up marriage. It seems to be at breaking point and William always seems to be on eggshells around Claire. We see that lies in this marriage causes them to reach breaking point and introduction of a mystery writer into Williams life seems to complicate things further. The story has you gripped by the mystery of Winter: Who is this person? And why does she write these letters? Eager to get to the bottom of this mystery we see William try everything to find out who she is and by a chance meeting does. He's left deciding to try and repair his marriage or jump into the unknown.
This book is a brilliant read and I enjoyed it far more that other books with a similar premise. I will definitely be reading this author again.

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This is an absolute gem of a debut novel. I’m not a big fan of the romance genre; boy meets girl etc. but this book rises way above that device. It is philosophical, witty, thought provoking and rather lovely. I predict big things for the author: Helen Cullen.

William Woolf is a letter detective in the Dead Letters Depot in London. He spends his days trying to track down the intended recipients of letter and parcels which have lost their way. William always intended to be a novelist but life hasn’t quite worked out that way. The idea of the letter detectives really appealed to me and the author creates an atmosphere where I can imagine the detectives hunched over their work, searching for postcodes and other clues.

Clare is a successful lawyer (although she would have loved to be an artist) and she and William have been together since university. Where William is the dreamer, the Clare is the organiser. They are both beginning to think, for different reasons, that something is going wrong with their marriage and consequently their individual lives.

The focus of this novel is communication, particularly through the medium of the letter and it is through these that we begin to understand the nature of the challenge William and Clare face if they are to stay together. This is brought into very sharp relief when William starts to find letters at the Depot addressed to My Great Love. These tell of the hope a woman has in finding her one true love and William is captivated. Could it be that these letters are really meant for him?

This novel is beautifully written and rich with characters we either ‘see’ personally or through the letters they have written which haven’t found their destination.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

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I loved the premise of this book, but did feel that the author could have done more with it. I wanted more time in the Dead Letters Depot and a bigger mystery, instead of a lot of time in a miserable man's self-pitying thoughts. However, the book was easy to read, a fun idea and a gentle pace. Recommended for fans of books such as Rachel Joyce's 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry'.

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I thought this book could have been so much better with a little work.
The basic story was an interesting one although rather overworked at times and the writing was good in parts. But there were other sections containing preposterous passages of purple prose (and awkward annoying alliteration !) that I would have been ashamed of in my creative writing classes, as I would have been ashamed of the repeated lucky coincidences.
And there was one glaring error - lilac does not bloom in England "before Christmas". Not in Europe anyway - it's blossoming outside my window now as I write.
Poor editing all round imo.

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I loved the concept of this book. William Woolf''s job is to make sure lost and undelivered mail finds its way home. The letters he finds are fascinating but there is another storyline to do with him and his wife which I found got in the way of the more interesting parts of the book.

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Was a but confusing to start with but enjoyable. Hope this department is real and lost letters really do go to be foubd homes.
Few twists and turns

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