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The flood of epistolary novels in England slowed at the
end of the 18th century. The flow sometimes became a trickle,
but it never entirely dried up. The best nineteenth century epistolary
novel is Jane Austen’s 1871 Lady Susan, comprised of letters
from the selfish and self-centered title character; the book is a
marvelous example of unintentional revelations by and about the woman
writing the letters.2 (See a Jane Austen link,
http://www.jasna.org/.) But the most famous 19th century
epistolary novel is Bram Stoker’s 1897 Dracula, composed mostly
of letters, but also containing diary entries, a newspaper clipping, and
what is listed in the table of contents as a “phonograph diary.”
The first U.S. novel, The Power of Sympathy,
published in 1789, was in epistolary form, and was once thought to have
been written by Sarah Wentworth Morton. That attribution is now
uncertain, and the book is rarely read. A number of forgotten books in
letters were published in the U.S.A. in the late eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. But it was not until the twentieth century that
U.S. writers produced epistolary novels that were both popular and
memorable.3
The popularity of epistolary novels in the U.S. grew in
the twentieth century just as interest in the genre was fading in
Europe.4 Jean Webster’s charming 1912 Daddy-Long-Legs
was a best-seller, a successful play, and inspired two films, including
one in the 1950s starring Fred Astaire. Daddy-Long-Legs’s
sequel, Dear Enemy, published in 1915, also became a
best-seller. Both are still fun to read.
John O’Hara’s 64-page paperback (it sold for ten
cents), Pal Joey of 19395 began its life in 1938 as
fictional letters from Pal Joey to Pal Ted in The New Yorker.
The collected letters formed a popular novel, and in 1941 became a hit
musical, with music by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
The letters in Helene Hanff’s 1970 novel, 84
Charing Cross Road, later a successful play, are by an American
author writing to a London book dealer for a twenty year period
beginning in 1946.
John Barth’s 769-page Letters of 1979 is
subtitled “An Old Time Epistolary Novel.” He described the book as
“eighty-eight epistles from seven correspondents,” and characterized it
as complicated. (He also quoted others who have used “interminable,” and
“unreadable” to describe the book.)
The best known twentieth century epistolary novel is
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple of 1982, which won both the
Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award for Fiction. Walker’s
protagonist, Celie, writes her sad letters to God, and to her sister.
The ways in which writers have used the epistolary form
seem almost limitless. George Plimpton, best known for his elegant prose
and as a founder of The Paris Review, wrote the hilarious
Pet Peeves or Whatever Happened to Doctor Rawff, 2000, which
consists of letters to a pet problem advice columnist and veterinarian.
Mary Ann Shaffer’s delightful and popular The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society of 2008 has been
published in many countries, and occupies numerous “Best-seller” lists.
Set in 1946 in Guernsey, the writer used letters, hand-delivered notes,
cables, telegrams, night letters, and “detection notes” to tell her
story. Part of its convincing tone comes from the various types of
epistles employed, some of which are no longer used.
Almost as soon as it became available, writers began to
utilize Email in novels. Some of the early Email books are difficult to
find, but a growing number of recent Email novels can be bought in
bookstores, or borrowed from libraries. Among them are:
Avodah Offit’s Virtual Love of 1994 composed
of Emails between two therapists about sexual dysfunction; Stephanie
Fletcher’s 1996 Email, A Love Story, made up of Email and
electronic bulletin-board posts; the 2002 ChaseR: A Novel in Emails
by Michael Rosen told from the point of view of a fourteen year old boy;
Cecelia Ahern’s 453 page Where Rainbows End of 2004 composed of
notes written in class by children, Valentine cards, instant messages,
notes from teachers to parents, bills, text messages, Email, Christmas
cards, newspaper clippings, faxes, post cards, birthday cards, etc.; and
Lucy Kellaway’s Who Moved My Blackberry? of 2006, an amusing
business satire set in England, composed of Email, interoffice memos,
and text messages mostly from Martin Lukes, an obnoxious executive on
his way down. It resembles Lady Susan in that Lukes
unintentionally reveals through his correspondence just how awful he is.
As for the future of the epistolary novel, the growing
number of Email novels suggest that the future is now. The U.S. Postal
Service was described on August 8, 2009 in The New York Times
as “today’s Pony Express,” and snail mail may, like telegrams, become
obsolete. Where the electronic world takes us, for better or worse,
writers will surely follow.
Two types of epistolary novel are especially
interesting, regardless of the type of epistles used. The first is the
novel (like Lady Susan and Who Moved my Blackberry?),
in which the letter writer unintentionally reveals his or her true
character.
The second is Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and
Potato Peel Pie Society, in which the variety of epistles
authenticates the novel’s time frame. But when establishing that the
book takes place in the twenty-first century, the writer should take
care not to overdo it. Ahern’s Where Rainbows End is
overwhelming in length and in the number of types of epistles used.
Finally, those interested in epistolary novels might like the “letter
story.” Other People’s Mail, 2000, an anthology of letter (or
epistolary) stories edited and introduced by Gail Pool, was a
revelation, and includes interesting works by many well-known authors.
______________________
1“Epistolary”
is an adjective, meaning related to the writing of letters or literary
works in the form of letters (New
Oxford Dictionary) In my search for epistolary novels, I encountered
many imposters. The culprits who spread the bad information seem to be
those who make lists for the Internet. They copy each other’s lists,
thus perpetuating errors.
2
Some Janeites have used the epistolary form for
writing “After Janes.” See Paula Atchia’s
Mansfield Letters, a sequel to
Mansfield Park, 1996; Jane Dawkin’s
Letters from Pemberley, the First
Year: a continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, 1999;
More Letters from Pemberley,
2003; and Mrs. Goddard, Mistress
of a School, 1993; and
Elinor and Marianne is an
epistolary sequel to Sense and
Sensibility, written by Emma Tennant.
3
For a long list of pre-twentieth century epistolary
novels published in the U.S.,
see Godfrey Frank Singer, The
Epistolary Novel, 1933, Chapter IX, “Epistolary Fiction in
America.”
4
Among the epistolary novels published in
England
in the early twentieth century was Dorothy L. Sayer’s
The Documents in the Case, 1930, which uses the form to present an
absorbing murder mystery.
5 The caption on the
book jacket is “a crooner not above borrowing for keeps from any
reasonably attractive mouse,” and is described on the title page as
“About a Hard-Luck Guy and His Babes.”
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