Knightley was and if he would ever start replying to Samantha’s letters or meet her in person! When I finally “met” Mr. Samantha bares her soul to him and divulges everything! I enjoyed pondering who Mr. But my favorite relationship was with the mysterious Mr. She learned how to be a friend, big sister, mentor, and even a girlfriend! My heart warmed to see her reach out to a lonely, hurting teen in the foster care system and her lovely, daughter-like relationship with a sweet childless retired couple. Each relationship is unique and forces Samantha to open up in different ways. What I loved most in this story was seeing Samantha develop relationships with the people in her life. I took great pleasure in observing the gradual change and development of Samantha’s character, and I loved her voice, what a skilled reader and writer she is! A little teaser for ya…

Even though Samantha is extremely introverted and closed-off, I found her endearing, intelligent, honest, and likable. I loved how Katherine Reay slowly revealed Samantha’s painful and unhappy past to the reader through these confession-like, soul-purging letters. She needs to have real relationships and be active and present with the people in her life. But living in a world of novels, donning personalities, and quoting words from Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennet, or Edmond Dantes will not work for long in the real world… Samantha knows that if she is going to make it through this challenging graduate program, have a career, and support herself she needs to step out of her novels and connect to the world. What an intriguing way to tell a story! What a beautiful journey of growth and self-discovery! Because of the terrible treatment and lack of love she received as a child, Samantha has learned to cope with life by detaching from the world around her and retreating into the world of classic novels. Samantha happily accepts this contingency and begins to pen one-sided letters to an unknown, unseen, yet magnanimous Mr. Ten months later finds Samantha, jobless, homeless, and back at Grace House asking if the generous grant to study journalism is still available.įortunately for Samantha, it is! But there is just one stipulation – she must regularly report via handwritten letters to the foundation’s director, updating him on her progress and “things that matter.” These letters are to be journal entries that she sends to a P.O. Instead Samantha opted for the career path and tried to earn her own way in the world. Samantha declined this generous offer because she didn’t want to continue living at Grace House, a foster organization which she has called home for the last seven years. When Samantha Moore was twenty-two and a recent graduate from Roosevelt College she was offered a full-expense-paid grant and scholarship to earn her master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Dear mr knightley