Letters Between Us

by Linda Rader Overman

"Letters Between Us" is a powerful story of search for self, identity, of losing a friend and finding her in a deeper sense, and through her, making discoveries and gaining insights. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 189138662X
• ISBN13: 9781891386626
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Plain View Press, LLC
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Guilty Pleasure

Reading this book was like laying in a warm bubble bath with a glass of good wine and my sister's private diary. The story is told through the reading of personal letters sent between two friends (Laura and Katherine), over a 25-year period. We find out in the first chapter that Katherine has died under mysterious circumstances, and Laura needs to understand what happened and why. She checks into a seaside hotel and spends the week reading, reminiscing, and mentally reconnecting. Here's where the reader feels like a fly on the wall, as Laura writes in her journal and sifts through years of shared secrets. The author, Linda Rader Overman weaves historical and fashion references from the 60's and 70's, into the letters, along with the intimate details, making this an especially good read for Boomers, like me. The characters were so lifelike, it seemed like a true story, which made invading their privacy all the more enjoyable!

Letters Between Us

A coming of age story of love and friendship between two young women. Set in Los Angeles in the 1960's and '70's it's an exciting, candid read especially if you grew up in that era. If you didn't, you'll get a good insight into those lives and times. Linda Rader Overman tells a compelling story you'll find hard to put down.

Letters Betweeen Us

This is a meticulous account, in the form of letters and diaries, of two sixteen-year-old girl friends who were teens in the seventies. Recently Katharine, age 39, has been found dead in a dumpster after wondering off from a picnic. She had been a patient in a Psychiatric Hospital for a number of months. Her friend Laura attends the funeral. During the after burial reception Laura is given a box of old letters and diaries belonging to Katharine. Laura spends days poring over the contents of this box. She relives, in her mind, her childhood and teenage years spent in the company of Katharine, their parents and all that the girls shared in their young lives. This is a catharsis of years doing drugs, pot, pills and cocaine. The book is chuck full of ordinary, every day reminiscences of two ten-age girls who came of age in the late seventies. I recommend this book since it is an insight into the lives of two girls who were unhappily experimenting with drugs, sex and continuously voicing negative judgements of their parents. Those of us who were parents of teenagers during the sevenites can read this with a big sigh of relief, noting that this agony is over for us. Our children, for the most part, have turned out well, successful and happily raising their own children.

Unique Story of Friendship

Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (8/08) "Letters Between Us" begins at the end, with a Santa Barbara Herald newspaper article chronicling the death of 39-year-old Katharine Taylor Fields whose body was found in a dumpster at the Cold Spring Tavern Inn. Katharine's friend, Laura Wells, learns of the death through Katharine's estranged husband David. Katharine had been a patient at the Santa Barbara Psychiatric hospital for the past eight months, had just disappeared, and then was found dead. After attending the memorial services, Laura visit's David's house and he gives her "a brown cardboard box with some of Katharine's mementos from childhood." (p. 19) It turns out that both of them had saved the letters written between them, Katharine's even dated back to 8th grade. Laura holes herself up at the Vista del Mar Inn and after having her husband send her own box of saved letters she is intent on reading through all of them. This is the form in which the story is written, a series of letters back and forth, interjected with journal entries and Laura's memories. Following Laura's journey of discovery and remembrance makes for an interesting narrative. I love the way that Overman uses the letters to piece together the story and while doing so paints a clear picture of the two main character's lives. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the historical events and pop culture references that were a part of the era in which the story took place. Katharine and Laura keeping pace with the world around them gives a feel of authenticity to the book. Although I had an advance reader copy without the final cover, I did see a picture of the cover of the book on the author's website and absolutely love it. I think that it is perfectly fitting of the storyline and gives the reader a clear picture of exactly what the book is about. "Letters Between Us" is an engaging, easy-to-read novel, written in a unique form. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys women's fiction, stories of friendship and family, and to anyone who came of age during the 60's and 70's.

Looking back and contemplating life

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (6/08) Thirty-nine-year-old Laura is not having an easy time in her life right now. Her mother is suffering from dementia and her once happy marriage is on the rocks. Life has definitely gotten in the way of her happiness. Totally destroying any sense of contentment, she gets a telephone call notifying her that Katharine, her best friend since childhood, has been found dead. Her body was discovered dumped in a trash bin after she disappeared while on a picnic outing for hospital psychiatric patients. Putting her life on hold, Laura goes to Katharine's funeral. Afterwards, she begins going through a box of diaries and letters from Katharine's life. Combining them with her personal collection, she takes refuge in a hotel room, away from everybody, and begins reading. As she reads, she also remembers. This novel is written about the information in those diaries and the letters that were written between the girls starting twenty-six years ago. The current time in this story is 1989. Laura tells her story to us through her current journal writings. Neither one of them had a very stable upbringing, yet it was Laura who was both promiscuous and heavily involved in experimentation with drugs and alcohol. Katharine, in spite of her mental health issues, was more reserved and restrained. Katharine's first hospitalization in a mental health facility began in 1969. Being a child of alcoholic parents and a father that was abusive and unemployed left a huge scar on her psyche. As she grew into adulthood, her psychosis worsened. Towards the end, her psychotic behavior was turning her into a person that Laura had trouble recognizing as her friend. As Laura looks back over the years, she sees clues about Katharine's life that she missed while knowing her. This is also the first time that she has stopped and taken the time to evaluate her own life. Laura's young adulthood was more focused on sex, drugs and alcohol than self-examination. Now that she is taking time, she also finds clues as to when things started happening in her own life, such as when her marriage died. It also hits her hard that these mementos are the end of her memories with her dear friend. With Katharine gone, there will not be any new memories to make. "Letters Between Us" is one of those books that leaves you sitting quietly and contemplatively after you are done reading it. Initially, all that I could say about the novel was, "Wow." This is definitely one of the most realistic fictional stories that I have ever read. As a matter of fact, the story was so real to me, that while I was reading it, I kept checking the category it was listed under to make sure that it really was a fictional story. Linda Rader Overman has such a talent with words. Using similes and metaphors she does a wonderful job of imparting a visual picture over everything, including emotions. Part of me feels like I just finished watching a movie,