Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay

One person can make all of the difference in someone’s life. Sam Moore knows that full well. But will she give up more of herself to her benefactor than she should?

In Dear Mr. Knightley, Sam has spent much of her life hiding. Growing up in an abusive home and then working her way through the foster care system, Sam hid to protect herself. Her farvourite place to hide was in the world of the books she loves the most. The works of Austen, Dickens and Shakespeare became her safe place. But now Sam’s life is about to change. An anonymous donor offers to pay for Sam to earn her graduate degree in journalism. The only stipulation on Sam’s part is that she must write letters to the donor about her progress and life. Sam finds this letter writing oddly therapeutic and through it she able to escape the world of her books and find who she truly is.

Being a “bookish” person myself, I found Sam’s character interesting. While I do not run around quoting books like she does, I can relate to retreating to a fictional world to escape reality. I also really enjoyed the “letter writing” style of this book. It was different and it kept is fresh and real. You can’t hide in a letter and the author did a great job of bringing out the character of Sam. While the ending was somewhat predictable and felt a tad rushed, it was a satisfactory ending to these letters of Sam. I would have been very disappointed if it had ended any differently.

I received a copy of the book to review from Book Sneeze in exchange for my review. I was not required to write a positive review.

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A Perspective

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The Talens' Tales

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