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The Hatbox Letters by Beth Powning
Published by Random House Canada, 2004
Reviewed by Christine Gordon Manley
I think I read this book at the wrong time of the year. The story takes place during a New Brunswick winter—complete with expected snowstorms, isolation, and cold temperatures. It was difficult for me to suspend reality when sunshine and warming temperatures were calling out to me in real life. The novel also reads like winter, with its long, drawn-out descriptions. This is not a book to be rushed.
Saying that, however, I did like this book . . . for the most part. The story revolves around Kate, a widow of two years, who cannot move past her grief. The descriptions of her emotions were at times too painful to read. The reader honestly feels for this woman who has lost her entire world, too prematurely. Powning succeeds in offering a character whose grief is so powerful at times that I often found myself putting the book down to talk to or hug my husband. In other words, Powning depicts the terrible “what if” in a frighteningly realistic manner.
While Powning does write in beautiful pose, there is only so much a person can read about a broken heart. I admit that I often skipped sections of Kate’s internal dialogue.
While Kate’s grief is the central conflict of this story, I found the back story to be more compelling. Kate has recently come into possession of a collection of family documents, including a series of letters written between her grandparents in early twentieth-century Connecticut. I found myself being drawn into their story, and my only criticism of this subplot is that Powning teased the reader, offering only snippets at a time.
Overall, I found the The Hatbox Letters problematic. I found Powning’s writing nothing less than emotional genius, yet I couldn’t help but wonder how the novel would have read if the entire focus had been on these letters. Then again, if I had read this book in the winter, I might have a different perspective entirely.
The Hatbox Letters by Beth Powning. Copyright @2004 Powning Design Ltd. Cover image (birds/script) Peter Powning (tulip) Russell Illig/Getting Images. Cover Design: Based on original concept by Peter Powning. Author Photo: Peter Powning. Reprinted by permission of Random House Canada.
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