Reviews of "Letters from Lake Joe"

S. Lynn Hilton, a writer of fantasy books, wrote this on Goodreads:

 This lovely historical fiction book tells its story of summers spent cottaging at Lake Joseph, Muskoka, Canada, through the medium of letters written by the main character Violet (Courtenaye) Welsman. Illustrated with period photographs and postcards, the book is divided into two parts, each a different historical period. The first part is the longer of the two and far more detailed. That is Violet’s time period. The second part, while shorter, was just as enjoyable to read and contained the author’s thoughts and reminiscences of times spent at Lake Joe in roughly the middle to last half of the 20th century.

Violet’s fictional letters read like something I’d expect a woman of that time period and status to write and painted a detailed picture of the lives of the people who summered at the lake. The story provides a delightful taste of life from another time, both good times and a few sad times, and its conversational tone perfectly fit the (mostly) leisurely pace of the summers described. I enjoyed how the small collection of “mid-century Muskoka memories” rounded out the book and provided a different view of the cottage and island where Violet summered so many years earlier.

I really liked this creative non-fiction (as the author describes her books about her ancestor Violet). The book is an engaging slice of life story, an entertaining read. 

Chester Sing added this: 

This is a wonderfully written and imagined series of letters that transports the reader back in time to a rustic, simpler era. It is charming and nostalgic, and is a lovely ode to the author's grandmother and family history. Read this for a trip back in time to a bygone era! 

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