Best Epistolary Novels That Will Sweep You Away

When I was young, I read my first letter book (epistolary novel) , Dear Mr. Henshaw. I totally fell in love. To me there is something magical about reading letters or books with other communication methods that can truly sweep you away. Books with just phone calls, emails, texts, journal entries, etc. I love this for some reason. I have heard that some do not like this kind of book and well, I just can’t imagine 🙂

The art of letter writing is something we don’t get to experience much anymore. I feel blessed that I was able to live in a time when I was young where people still sent letters and postcards. I came from the generation of getting in trouble at school for passing notes and letters and in a time where pen pals through the mail was a fun experience. With technology growing leaps and bounds and being able to talk to someone very far away with a click of a button now, the letter writing isn’t a necessity to communicate.

I wanted to put together a list of the different books that I enjoyed that has letters or other types of communication for all the ones who love them as much as I do.

There are not a lot of lists like this on the internet so if you know of some great book lists, I missed and I know there are (so many books of letters) let me know because I would love to add some new ones to this list and to my personal to be read list.

Books of Letters

If you like to have a list to print out to take to your library of the books mentioned in this post sign up below:

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

Children’s Literature

My love of letter books starting with this one! Dear Mr. Henshaw. It was written when I was a kid by the beloved Beverly Cleary, and I just LOVED it. It takes place after Leigh Bott’s parents separate and moves to a new town with his mother. Struggling to make friends and deal with his anger toward his absent father, Leigh loses himself in a class assignment in which he must write to his favorite author. When Mr. Henshaw responds, the two form an unexpected friendship that will change Leigh’s life forever.

I loved the letters back and forth between the boy and the author. The letters were so great and I was engrossed. That started my love of books of letters.

The Last Christmas in Paris: A Novel of World War I by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb

Christmas/Historical Fiction

We read this book last Christmas for book club, and I loved every minute! It is a book that takes place during World War I. This book is multiple letters between different characters in the book. The main character is Evie, and she watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

Of course this is not how it turns out.

This is a story of friendship, love, and the hardship of war. The story goes back and forth from Tom’s elderly life to his young years writing to Evie. This book is just delightful! Loved it.

Dear Mr. Knightley: A Novel by Katherine Reay

Romance/Historical Fiction

Speaking of a book I loved! Oh my, how I love this one!

Samantha’s only friends were characters in books, but her real life takes an extraordinary turn when a mysterious “Mr. Knightley” offers her a full journalism scholarship—on the condition that she write to him regularly. Will their long-distance friendship unlock her heart?

This book has a bookish character (Samantha) who of course loves books, and I always love finding a book lover in a book I’m reading. Sam loves Austen, Dickens, and Shakespeare. She considers herself to be more like Elizabeth Bennet though! I am an Elizabeth Bennet girl through and through so I could totally relate.

Sam’s letters to Mr. Knightley become increasingly confessional as she begins to share everything from her painful childhood memories to her growing feelings for eligible novelist Alex Powell.

If you love letter books you will love this one!

Letters of C.S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis

Non-Fiction

I have read the next book by C.S. Lewis but not this one yet, but it is on my TBR list for sure.

Many times, when I’m reading a nonfiction book of letters that is historic or in a time period I wasn’t living in, I find it so fascinating on how much life hasn’t changed much. We forget that people who lived before us worried about the same issues and face the same joy/trials in life we do.

It is also fun reading about things that we don’t have any more or a life before internet, cell phones and so many things in life that make our lives more convenient now.

These letters were written to friends, family, and fans at various stages of C.S, Lewis’s life, from his youth to the weeks before his death.

Letters to an American Lady by C.S. Lewis

Non-Fiction

This one I did read! It is letters between C.S. Lewis and a lady in America that started writing C.S. Lewis as a fan. I was so pulled in with these letters. I did find the lady to be very needy at times, C.S. Lewis was so kind to her, even sending her money at times. He passes away while they are still exchanging letters.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Non-Fiction

These are real letters between a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used book deal in London at 84 Charing Cross Road. My husband bought me this book because he knows how much I love a good book of letters. In these letters they form a friendship based around their love of books. You also get to know the other workers at the book shop. This was the basis for a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows

Historical Fiction

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I just LOVE this book! It takes you on a journey during WW2 in a book of letters.

As Juliet and a new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

This book kept me hook until the last page! I love thrifting for used books. One of the things I look for when searching for books is one’s for my daughters first apartment that I think are must haves. This one made that list.

Abigail Adams: A Life by Woody Holton

Non-Fiction

I love to read letters and books with presidents and first ladies.

I have always had an admiration for Abigail Adams. She fought for women’s rights when it wasn’t even on anyone’s radars, she was a fierce mother who often had to watch her children suffer (sometimes mentally and sometimes physically), she watched family and friends die of pandemics, and she hated slavery. She truly was in love with her husband until her death. (many marriages were not started on love in those days) She advised her husband on political matters and gave great advice.

I was so amazed reading her letters that she went through many of the same things we do. Time doesn’t change so many things and yet she also experienced things that were extremely difficult. There were not the medical advantages we have today. and women didn’t have many rights.

I was captivated by her letters.

My Dearest Fried: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Abigail & John Adams, also Margaret A Hogan, James Taylor & Joseph J Ellis

Non-Fiction

This was is on my wish list to read: This one is letters just between John and Abigail Adams.

In 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to “Miss Adorable,” the 17-year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801, Abigail wrote to wish her husband John a safe journey as he headed home to Quincy after serving as president of the nation he helped create. The letters that span these nearly forty years form the most significant correspondence―and reveal one of the most intriguing and inspiring partnerships―in American history.

The Appeal by Janice Hallet

Mystery/Fiction

I just finished this one and absolutely loved it! I have never read a book quite like it. It was very unique. This is a mystery and it has to be solved by a team of lawyers by reading through emails, messages, and letters. You are in for a wild ride if you pick this one up! I was totally in!!

The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their cast mates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial

The Christmas Appeal by Janice Hallet

Christmas/Mystery

So because I love The Appeal so much I have to read The Christmas Appeal. I love seasonal reading so it is on my list for Christmas of this year (2025)

The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list? Join lawyers Femi and Charlotte as they investigate Christmas letters, examine emails, and pore over police transcripts to identify both the victim and killer before the curtain closes on their holiday production—for good.

Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster

Historical Fiction

A trustee of the John Grier orphanage has offered to send Judy Abbott to college. The only requirements are that she must write to him every month and that she can never know who he is. Judy’s life at college is a whirlwind of friends, classes, parties and a growing friendship with the handsome Jervis Pendleton. With so much happening in her life, Judy can scarcely stop writing to ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’, or wondering who her mysterious benefactor is…

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

Christmas/Fantasy

Can you even imagine J.R.R Tolkien as your dad and writing letters from Father Christmas (Santa) to you growing up? What a wonderful gift he gave to his children. The letters themselves were written over a period of over 20 years to entertain Tolkien’s children each Christmas. I was so into the story of Santa and the Polar Bear; he sucked me right in. He didn’t plan on publishing these letters, they were just for his children, but after his death they were published. They have dates and illustrations and everything! Great Christmas read!

They also have a book of J.R.R. Tolkien letters to others.

Call me Maybe: Could it be love at first talk? by Cara Bastone

Romance

When this one came out it was an audible exclusive. The only way you could listen to it was on Audible. Now they offer it digitally as well to read on your Kindle.

If you decide to read, I would listen to this one because the audio has all the sounds and feel of a call center vibe.

This one is funny and will make you laugh out loud. Very clean romance and all by the telephone.

I’ve Got Your Number: A Novel by Sophia Kinsella

Romance

Speaking of funny. I also listened to this one and the audio is wonderful! I laughed so hard, this was my first Sophie Kinsella. If you are looking for an escape this is a fun one. This whole book takes place with an abandoned phone in a trash can.

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill, but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Romance

This is another one that is about emails and it is a riot!

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now—reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers—not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. He can’t help being entertained, and captivated, by their stories.

Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Romance

This is definitely not for everyone. Cheating is involved. I was not sure I could even read it but my curiosity got to me and it is a short read, so I went for it.

This is a book of letters between two people who find out their spouses are having an affair with each other. This in turn causes them to start communicating by letters.

With each commiserating scratch of the pen, they confess their fears and bare their souls. They share the bewilderment over how things went so wrong and come to wonder where to go from here.

Told entirely through the letters of two comforting strangers and those of two illicit lovers, Evidence of the Affair explores the complex nature of the heart. And ultimately, for one woman, how liberating it can be when it’s broken.

This book doesn’t wrap up in a pretty bow but I found the ending to be very realistic and I found that refreshing.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Non-Fiction

This is one I read in high school. There isn’t too many people who don’t know the story of Anne Frank. This is a diary of a little girl who is hiding from the Nazi’s with her family. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death.

In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, Anne’s account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

Anne will never know how this book spoke to millions and how it gave a glimpse of the cruelty the world can bring.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower

Fiction

So many women are loving these books. I have read the first one and although I enjoyed it I wasn’t quite sure what the hype was. But then I noticed many of the book reviews, tik tokers, etc are saying keep reading because once you get to one in the middle it is total addiction. So I am totally in for reading the rest.

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Reagan: A life in letters by Ronald Reagan

A collection of letters from the former president’s extensive correspondence library offers insight into his public and private life of more than seventy years, from his early financial struggles and Hollywood achievements to his political career and personal relationships. 125,000 first printing.

Dear Henry, Love Edith: A Charming Mistaken-Identity Romantic Comedy

Romance

After a short and difficult marriage, recently widowed Edith Sherman has learned her lesson. Forget love. Forget marriage. She plans to fill her thirties with adventure. As she awaits the final paperwork for a humanitarian trip to South Africa, she accepts a short-term nursing position in a small Midwestern town. The last thing she needs is a handsome local catching her eye. How inconvenient is that?

Henry Hobbes isn’t exactly thrilled to have Edith, who he assumes is an elderly widow, dumped on him as a houseguest for the summer. But he’d do almost anything for his niece, who is practically like a sister to him given how close they are in age. Especially since Edith will be working nights and Henry works most days. When he and Edith keep missing each other in person, they begin exchanging notes―short messages at first, then longer letters, sharing increasingly personal parts of their lives.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Romance

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

What is your favorite Letter Books ?

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