Dear Edward

By: Ann Napolitano

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

A luminous, life-affirming novel about a 12-year-old boy who is the sole survivor of a deadly plane crash. 

One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles. There are 216 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the air hostess; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons, bickering over who gets the window seat. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor. 

Dear Edward depicts Edward's life in the crash's aftermath as he struggles to make sense of the meaning of his survival and the strangeness of his sudden fame and find his place in the world without his family. In his new home with his aunt and uncle, the only solace comes from his friendship with the girl next door, Shay. Together Edward and Shay make a startling discovery: hidden in his uncle's garage are sacks of letters from the relatives of the other passengers, addressed to Edward.

As Edward comes of age against the backdrop of sudden tragedy, he must confront some of life's most profound questions: how do we make the most of the time we are given? And what does it mean not just to survive but to truly live? 

©2020 Ann Napolitano (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Astonishing." (Marian Keyes)

"A rich, big-hearted tapestry. Fans of Room and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be spellbound by Dear Edward." (Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists)

"A profoundly beautiful, page-turning story of mystery, loss, and wonder." (Hannah Tinti, author of The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley and The Good Thief)

Beautiful

I adored this book,
Loved the narration
It was sad but had funny moments, I know already I will listen to this book again

Boring as hell

I read/listened to this book as part of a book club and it was such a drain. Literally nothing happens in the entire story. The narration is also quite boring but I think that's mostly to do with the lack of excitement in the story.

1st person boy sounds like middle-aged woman

While I was listening to this I was screaming at the steering wheel; "How can you write a book in the voice of a teenaged boy when you've never met, spoken to, read about or been a teenaged boy? I mean, didn't she READ Dog at Night-time? No?" Boy survives plane crash, finds way to live on. Great idea, should have been wonderful and did get a lot of wonderful reviews, but it is staggering (as the mother of a boy, now 21) how little of a boy's real inner world Napolitano accesses. Edward talks, thinks and speaks like no teenager has ever done in any era. He talks, thinks and speaks like an educated middle-aged woman. So, I think all this and get very cross and bored by the whole thing, and then at the end the author thanks her sons and their relationship and what she's drawn on. So, I'm obviously wrong and then I felt really guilty. Still, something went wrong in the drawing of this character. For me anyway.

Hard to rate

The story is well written, and the narration was well performed, but it just didn't appeal to my interests.
I don't have any objective criticism, except to say that I found it a little annoying how Edward is kept getting told how "lucky", "blessed", and "miraculous" he is and has been.
A kid who lost his entire family in a tragic accident, and was left with deep physical and emotional scars, was blessed? Was lucky? And this was scattered throughout the story without being challenged even once, which leads me to think that this might have been the author's own take. And I just can't understand the logic behind it.
Except for that though, the story was written well and read well. But it just didn't pull me in.

Stunning and Profound

One of the most deeply moving books I have read in a long time. A must read.

Didn't get all the way to the end

Struggled with the first couple of chapters then finally gave up as it just didn't grab me. Just not for me.

Beautifully written & narrated.

I decided to listen to this audiobook, partly because of the reviews it already had, but also because Cassandra Campbell narrated it. I had greatly enjoyed her narration of Where The Crawdads Sing.
This story is a wonderful tale of loss & growth, that created a reel feeling of warmth for the characters & has left me very touched.

Wonderful

A story of survival through the darkest of times, and a journey through every emotion possible. Beautifully read. Would highly recommend.

Dear Edward

When I started this book I felt the story was a bit too much, but I kept listening to the audiobook and got taken by it.
It's a really beautiful story, very well narrated.

A great novel

About so many things, grief, need, overcoming health issues, getting to know oneself better, friendships and growing up and love on many levels. I really did enjoy this book and the voice actor was so good with the representations of the various characters, when a colleague asked if it was read by a man or a woman I didn’t know! It’s a woman named Cassandra and she retells the story excellently.