Dearest Josephine

December 11, 2020

Gr 8 Up-Eighteen-year-old Josie De Clare leaves London, as well as her insufferable mother and ex-boyfriend Rashad, to spend time alone at the estate her father purchased before his death. Through email, she reconnects with Faith, her Italian American best friend. Alone in the run-down estate, Josie describes to Faith the steps she's taking to fix it up. Stumbling upon a packet of letters from 1820 addressed to a Josephine De Clare from pale-skinned, hazel-eyed Elias, whose portrait peers down from above the desk, Josie and Faith, along with handsome local boy Oliver, dig deeper. Josie discovers that Elias, who met Josephine at a dance only once, is infatuated and determined to locate her. He describes Josephine, who with her personality, blonde hair, and slate blue eyes resembles Josie in so many ways that she is certain that they have a connection. Readers follow the story through Elias's letters to Josephine, interspersed with texts from Josie to Faith and Oliver, as well as an unfinished manuscript Elias wrote about his love for the mysterious Josephine. With Josie becoming more convinced that she and Elias are meant to be together, Faith and Oliver are there to remind her that love comes in many forms. VERDICT The overlong passages and jumps from today's texts to Elias's letters and novel do little to move the story forward, but there will be readers for whom this flowery story of star-crossed love, friendship, and angst works well.-Connie Williams, Petaluma, CA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2021
An epistolary novel featuring two individuals separated by centuries, each pining for the one they can't have. In the present day, Josie De Clare hopes to use the months before university to figure life out. Recently broken up with her selfish boyfriend, estranged from her best friend, and mourning the death of her father, she is headed to Atteberry, a northern English village where her father secretly purchased a small estate. There she finds a box of unsent letters from 1821 written by Elias Roch, illegitimate son and heir of the late Lord Roch. While reading the letters Elias wrote to one Josephine De Clare, a girl he met once and became increasingly besotted with, and his unfinished novel imagining what could have been, she sees similarities between herself and Josephine and starts to fall in love with Elias. It takes Josie months to read through the letters and manuscript, and the progression of her feelings feels forced. The characterization is choppy; Josie, who has suffered bouts of isolating grief, is never fully rounded or meaningfully developed. Elias' obsession with Josephine, whom he only met once, seems tenuous, as does Josie's in turn falling in love with him. Fortunately, she does meet local boy Oliver, a promising real-life alternative. Main characters are White; Josie's ex has a Muslim name. An attempt to bring Regency romance into the present that fails to gain momentum. (author's note, discussion questions) (Romance. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.