Dearest Josephine by Caroline George

Pages: 368
Method: Kindle
Rating: 3.9/5

This was my first book by Caroline George and I must admit that I was a little hesitant about the concept and the way in which the book was written. However, I was pleasantly surprised by it. The book follows two characters that lived over 200 years apart and everything is communicated through emails and text messages between friends, and letters and a novel written but never sent or published. The MMC, Elias, is the bastard heir of a Lord who writes letters to his lost love, Josephine De Clare, about his life after his father dies in the 1800s. The FMC, Josie, moves to Elias’s manor after her father died and left it to her in 2021 and finds Elias’ letters and partially written novel.

As she starts to read, she begins to notice coincidences and similarities between Elias’ lost love and herself. And where things caught me a little off guard was when she started to fall in love with Elias. She knows that he lived 200 years ago but she is convinced that he was writing to her and that if she is able to find him, her life will make sense and she can heal from her father’s passing. Honestly, this leaves a lot of possibilities for where the book can end so there was a sense of anticipation, not knowing how the author would choose to end the story.

I am always wary of modern communication used in books, but because it was consistent throughout, it didn’t seem out of place and was actually quite effective. The contrast between the informal style of the texts and emails with the formal style of the letters and novels created a beautiful juxtaposition of different people dealing with similar issues in varying ways. The way that Josie talked to her best friend in her emails was extremely relatable and therefore easy to follow. How Elias wrote to Josephine was eloquent and heart warming, taking me back to the time period and longing for a man who would defy formalities because of his love for me.

Overall I enjoyed the progression of the story and the interaction between the characters. There were a couple lulls throughout that I had to get through and I had to get used to the style but I was happy with the ending and was intrigued and engaged for most of the story.This book was an interesting take on dealing with grief and love and how the two intermingle. It was well written with a lot of beautiful quotes and surely one of the more unique books I’ve read in a while.

Favorite Quotes: 

“I don’t want to get hurt, and when you love someone, you choose to be hurt by them. You give consent to the pain. You open your heart and let the break inside.”

“…humans often fail to acknowledge the beauty around them, but their lack of notice doesn’t determine a thing’s value. Gorse does not require an audience to grow, and neither do people. We aren’t who we are because of what others see or say.”

“She was beautiful, but like a rainstorm, not a piece of china.”

“He wanted the whole story, but he’d settle for a chapter. A little of her was worth the pain of losing her.”

“Words–more so the authoring of them–demand our bareness, do they not? My headmaster once said we take from books what we bring to them, meaning books are but reflections of us. I share that belief now. For the sake of literature, I undressed on a page. I exposed myself in a quiet intimacy. Now I am seen and spent, and I have not more to show.”