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Letter from a Stranger Barbara Bradford Justine Nolan is a documentary filmmaker who lost her cherished grandmother a decade ago—the only source of love and comfort in her life. Her own mother, Deborah, has always been distant, focusing on her career as an interior designer. But when Justine inadvertently opens a letter addressed to her mother, she discovers that not only is her grandmother alive, but that Deborah has deliberately distanced her from the family for all these years. Justine's search for her grandmother takes her to Istanbul, where she begins to uncover secrets that stretch all the way back to World War II. As layers of deception peel away, Justine begins to understand a woman she never really knew...and she begins to ask questions about the true desires of her own heart.
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I had trouble with this book. The story is good. I think. But I found the writing really awkward; redundant and repetitive in spots, and overly explanatory in others. It didn't seem to flow in any way, and none of the characters seemed to have their own voice. Sometimes it seemed the author had added extra phrases or expressions just to up the word count, or in an effort to explain something that needed no explanation. And there was an overuse of cliche expressions, to the point where I wanted to keep count in the text.
As I said, I liked the idea of the story; it could have been a fabulous novel. But sometimes a good story just isn't enough to make a good book.