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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen (view source)
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William Woolf is a letter detective, working in the Dead Letters Depot in East London. He spends his days deciphering smudged addresses, tracking down mysterious people and reading endless letters of love, guilt, death, hope, and everyday life.
There's a magic in words -I know that, and you, reading a book review, undoubtedly know that too. It's something that Helen Cullen clearly believes in, as she has written this remarkable tribute to the power of words - a beautifully truthful and heartrending tale of a man who lives through the words of others.
William Woolf is a creation who will, for me, be remembered for a very long time - and Helen Cullen has pitched him perfectly - eccentric engouh enough to make for a memorable character, but filled with emotion, fault and feeling to ensure that he's brought to life as a vivid, human character. It may be that I have a particularly large amount of empathy for a shy man who's frequently wearing large amounts of tweed - but he's such a wonderfully warm character to read about that I daresay every reader will fall in love with him.
The Lost Letter Office is a great starting point to build the book around - a place where a myriad of voices and stories come through the doors everyday - perhaps robbed of a final destination but nevertheless touching the hearts and lives of those who read them. In the wrong hands it could have resulted in a hugely twee read, but Cullen holds off the saccharine sentiment and instead crafts characters who feel immensely real - and explores the deteriotation of a marriage in a fine, often painful detail that makes this a far deeper read than one may first expect.
