Fab five

Our friends at the Postal Museum have suggested five books for reading, in which letter writing plays an important role.

Postal Museum curator Joanna Espin compiled the below list. The criteria included featuring on a stamp and include a letter within its pages.

1. Dracula, Bram Stoker

Perhaps the best known example of an epistolary novel, or a novel written in letter form, Bram Stoker’s Dracula deploys journal entries, ships’ logs and newspaper clippings to bring different voices and authenticity to his Gothic tale.

Through the novel’s many letters, the reader explores how the characters are connected and mines their private thoughts as they face off with everyone’s favourite bloodthirsty Count.

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

The 18th century is known as a golden age in letter writing, and many novels written in this century were entirely in epistolary form. Jane Austen wrote the first draft of Pride and Prejudice in the 1790s, and it’s believed this early version, entitled ‘First Impressions,’ could have been written in the epistolary. The final version, which was published over 20 years later, mentions more than 40 letters.

3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Mr Rochester and Jane’s telepathic communication marks a key turning point in Jane Eyre, as they reach out psychically to each other. The novel includes more earthly communication through letters, and significantly, letters not delivered until years after they were sent.

4. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie

The killer in Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit, reveals his identity in a message in a bottle, thrown into the sea, caught by a fisherman and handed to the police. 

5. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

Another Gothic novel using the epistolary form, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein begins with four letters from Robert Walton to his sister, Margaret Saville. The gradual introduction of the story builds suspense and adds believability.

Get in touch with your top five suggestions – your list could feature next.