Letter From Home

"A persistent sense of loss and longing account for the bittersweet tone... Hart’s delicate touch balances the gentle restraint of a coming-of-age memoir with the hot passions of small-town tragedy." ~ New York Times

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World famous correspondent Gretchen Gilman receives a letter that draws her back to the sultry wartime summer of 1944. Gretchen was thirteen and excited to have a job on her smalltown newspaper after the draft emptied the newsroom. She is learning her craft when her best friend's mother, artist Faye Tatum, is murdered. Gretchen keeps on asking questions even when friends and neighbors turn against her. Gretchen confronts intolerance, passion, hope, and despair. When the pieces finally fall into place, Gretchen understands that everyone caught up in the crime did the best they could . . . including her.

  • Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2003
  • New York Times Notable Book of the Year 2003
  • Winner of the Agatha for Best Mystery Novel of 2003
  • Publishers Weekly Starred Review: "Hart has created a fabulous two-in-one: an excellent mystery and the poignant memoirs of her heroine . . . Characters are Steinbeck vivid, as is the sense of time and place as Hart masterfully portrays a small town during WWII."
  • New York Times: "A persistent sense of loss and longing account for the bittersweet tone . . . Hart’s delicate touch balances the gentle restraint of a coming-of-age memoir with the hot passions of small-town tragedy."