Letters to my Husband by Stephanie Butland

"Dear Mike, I can’t believe that it’s true. You wouldn’t do this to me. You promised.

Elizabeth knows that her husband is kind and good and that he loves her unconditionally. She knows she hasn’t been herself lately but that, even so, they are happy. 

But Elizabeth’s world is turned upside down when Mike dies in a tragic drowning accident. Suddenly everything Elizabeth knows about her husband is thrown into doubt. Why would he sacrifice his own life, knowing he’d never see his wife again? And what exactly was he doing at the lake that night?

Elizabeth knows that writing to Mike won’t bring him back, but she needs to talk to him now more than ever . . .

How much can you ever know about the people you love?"

I found Letters to my Husband quite emotionally draining in the first instance.  A lot of the first section is a little repetitive in that there does not feel like there is any light at the end of the tunnel.  Then, once the 'secret' was revealed, I felt a little disappointed that was the turn the book was going to take, although I am not really sure what else I had expected.

I continued to read because the writing itself is good and I was intrigued enough to know what was ultimately going to happen, but I just couldn't adore such a book filled with such unrelenting sadness.  However, at the same time as being sad, it is not the tear jerker that I was expecting.  Unfortunately, I just didn't feel even a glimmer of hope or inspiration.  

I want to stress that this doesn't mean I wouldn't consider reading a Stephanie Butland book in the future, however I found that Letters to my Husband did not have that uplifting element that would have made all the difference to me.

Letters to my Husband is out NOW.  Thank you to Transworld Publishers for the copy in exchange for an honest review.