Dear Mr. Knightley

The Book Nook

When I first posted a picture of this new read on Instagram, a friend from college messaged me and told me she had read the novel in a book club and that she enjoyed it. I had never heard of it before that day, which amazed me. There are so many writers out there and so many books; I will never know all of them, and I will never read all of them! That is both equally exciting and sad to me. I want them all. I want that floor-to-ceiling, beautifully decorated bookshelf. I vow to get one of those some day.

If you love the classics, especially Jane Austen, Katherine Reay’s Dear Mr. Knightley is a read that will grab your heart. With so many references from Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Emma, this story shows how we cope with our personal issues through the help of others’ words.

Samantha, better known as Sam, is a graduate student who spent most of her life in the foster care system. Unsure of herself and how to be vulnerable with others, she found an escape in the characters that filled her stories. As she begins a new chapter of her life, Sam is required to write to an anonymous sponsor in order to keep his company updated in her school progress. This “relationship” plays a huge role in our character’s development as she learns how to trust for the first time in her life.

Throughout Dear Mr. Knightley, we get to walk through Sam’s childhood, her first real relationship with a man, her new and authentic friendships, and my favorite, the beginning exposure to Jesus’ forgiveness and grace. This light read will be finished quickly, the perfect fix for summer evenings.

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