• The Last Letter from Your Lover

  • A Novel
  • By: Jojo Moyes
  • Narrated by: Susan Lyons
  • Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (4,139 ratings)

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The Last Letter from Your Lover  By  cover art

The Last Letter from Your Lover

By: Jojo Moyes
Narrated by: Susan Lyons
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Publisher's summary

Major motion picture premiering on Netflix on July 23, starring Felicity Jones, Shailene Woodley, and Callum Turner.

From the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Giver of Stars, a sophisticated, pause-resisting double love story spanning 40 years, and an unforgettable Brief Encounter for our times.

A sophisticated, pause-resisting double love story spanning 40 years-an unforgettable Brief Encounter for our times.

It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothing-not the tragic car accident that put her there, not her husband, not even who she is. She feels like a stranger in her own life until she stumbles upon an impassioned letter, signed simply "B", asking her to leave her husband.

Years later, in 2003, a journalist named Ellie discovers the same enigmatic letter in a forgotten file in her newspaper's archives. She becomes obsessed by the story and hopeful that it can resurrect her faltering career. Perhaps if these lovers had a happy ending she will find one to her own complicated love life, too. Ellie's search will rewrite history and help her see the truth about her own modern romance.

A spellbinding, intoxicating love story with a knockout ending, The Last Letter from Your Lover will appeal to the listeners who have made One Day and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society best sellers.

©2011 Jojo Moyes (P)2011 Penguin

Critic reviews

"With its realistically complicated characters and emotionally complex plot, The Last Letter from Your Lover is hopelessly and hopefully romantic." (Chicago Tribune)

"Crafting a love story that feels not just compelling but true is a very difficult thing indeed - and yet, with The Last Letter from Your Lover, Jojo Moyes has done it twice. I found myself utterly transfixed by both sets of lovers in this marvelous novel. Moyes is a tremendously gifted storyteller, and I'm all admiration." (Paula McLain, New York Times best-selling author of The Paris Wife)

"A fabulous, emotional, and evocative book - perfect for anyone who loves Mad Men." (Sophie Kinsella, best-selling author of Confessions of a Shopaholic)

What listeners say about The Last Letter from Your Lover

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    2,558
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Performance
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Story
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

What's so Great About Jennifer?

Predictable and formulaic sum it up. Moyes wrote the moving and powerful, "Girl You Left Behind" and penned the entertaining, yet doomed relationship in "Me Before You" and this offering is only one step above a romance novel. Main character, Jennifer never showed why the men in her life were obsessed with her, other than her blonde hair and perfect posture. Stayed with it out of respect for her other works, but the more I waited, the less I was rewarded with tired, regurgitated details and banal ending. The narrator had a lovely voice, but her performance couldn't save this fluff. I would still try a new book written by Jo Jo Moyes, but this one was disappointing.

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

I loved Ms. Moyes two latest books so assumed I would at least like this one too. It is rare that I find an author I really enjoy then run across a book of theirs that I simply can't finish. Georgette Heyer's Sprig Muslin is my other example.

This book was just entirely too slow. It was full of missed opportunities and miscommunications, and when an author uses those two tools to move her plot along, I am always frustrated.

I felt some sympathy for the primary protagonists, but felt that their actions did nothing but perpetuate their problems. So I never felt attached to them.

Everyone seemed unhappy or depressed all the time. In Ms. Moyes two latest books there are meaningful reasons for the characters to feel this way. The characters face death, war, loss. Valid reasons to be unhappy. In this book the character's troubles are not catastrophic. Outside forces aren't really in control of their lives. And they are in situations they themselves can control.

I am not certain if Ms.Moyes is maturing into her writing skills - this book was written prior to Me Before You and The Girl You Left Behind - or if The Last Letter is an aberration. I will definitely try another of her books. Bu I cannot recommend this one.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book!

Any additional comments?

Just as Me Before You was a wonderful listen, so was The Last Letter From Your Lover. I know because I felt like I was living with the characters and am thinking about it even though I finished days ago. My ambition is to read or listen to all of the author's books.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Read the Me Before You trilogy instead

After having read the 3 books that comprise the Me Before You trilogy, I thought Moyes was going to be a safe bet at the very least. Nope.

When a books starts off badly, it takes a lot to rescue it for me. So, Jennifer has a car accident and gets amnesia. The whole amnesia thing is enough of an over-used trope, but what bugged me was that her amnesia is treated like a skinned knee--unseen and not serious. Jennifer only tells her doctor, husband, and one friend and even then underplays the degree of her memory loss so maybe that's why everybody blows off her concerns when she does voice them--albeit timidly. And then she just does an excellent job faking it in her gigantic social circle. Doubt it.

The other thing that didn't work is that everything relies on communication going awry. If there's a way for it to go wrong it does either through the main character's communication issues, other people's interference, etc. It also relies on "near misses." Each time a character has decided, "Yes, I will go to this person," whoops, person just left the country.

Two storylines (1960s and 2004) didn't really help much. It just made the book way too long.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Excellent Audio!

Would you listen to The Last Letter from Your Lover again? Why?

I definitely would listen to this story again. Both the reader and the story as well as the characters kept me interested.

What did you like best about this story?

It was a wonderful love story and who can resist a story when the characters of lost love re-connect in the end.

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth your time!

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous!!!!! Just Fabulous

The only other JoJo Moyes book I had read prior to listening to The Last Letter from your Lover was Me Before You, which I really enjoyed. However, this book took me through a deep range of emotions and I was entranced. Heartbreak and triumph, happiness and sadness. Wonderful characters and wonderful, real relationships. This is a great story and the writing is beautifully and artfully done. Bravo! Can't wait to read One plus One.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Tempted to google characters, as if they were real

If you could sum up The Last Letter from Your Lover in three words, what would they be?

Poignant. Delicate. Timeless.

What other book might you compare The Last Letter from Your Lover to and why?

Romeo and Juliet... a story that captures what just a few minutes and poor communication can do. The charm of the story is realizing that in 1960, without cell phones, text messages and e-mail, how easy it was to miss the love of your life by mere moments.

Have you listened to any of Susan Lyons’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

She does a beautiful job. I love her voice and thinks she captures the emotion of each character well without adopting strange affected voices for each one.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, but I don't want to ruin the story by telling you what it was... sorry.

Any additional comments?

I noticed several hitches in the editing where natural breaks were skipped. It didn't take away from the story, but I expect better quality.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not much happens

I loved Me Before You so thought I would try this one. It's basically a romance novel, like a Nicholos Sparks book. It wasn't for me.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this book

I enjoyed this story and the narrator was very good. I did think the story went a bit over long but other than that it was good. I would recommend it.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring, predictable, and drawn out story!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone with more patience than me.

What was most disappointing about Jojo Moyes’s story?

I love books - reading and listening to books. It is rare that I do not finish a book, but I could not finish this one. The storyline was not only boring, but predictable and sooo drawn out! I kept thinking it would eventually go somewhere but it did not! I did not care what happened 40 years later so deleted the book.

How could the performance have been better?

Susan Lyons is always a good narrator. Her voice was the only thing pleasant about the book.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Just the narrator

Any additional comments?

I kept thinking this book would get better and wasted a lot of time listening in hopes that it would. This is my first review - I just felt compelled to give my opinion because it is the opposite of the positive reviews I read before buying this book.

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