I couldn't decide whether to buy this book. I thought it would be depressing. It is not. It's obviously sad but certainly makes you think - the sign of a good book.
Dear Edward by American author Ann Napolitano is a well-written, well thought out, and in the words of Irish author Marian Keyes, an"astonishing" book.
Twelve-year-old Edward Adler is on a flight from New York to Los Angeles with his parents and older brother when tragedy strikes. The plane crashes and all of the 191 passengers except for Edward are killed.
Imagine being the sole survivor of such a tragedy. The book tells the story of Edward and how he deals with life after the crash. He goes to live with his aunt and uncle and builds a friendship with the girl next door Shay.
The story flicks between the story told through Edward's eyes, his grief and how he deals with it in the years following the crash and then through the eyes of some of the passengers aboard the plane in the last hours of their lives - what are they thinking about, what has led them to be on that flight and their own dreams and goals.
A part of the book I found the most fascinating was Edward's discovery, some years later, of bags full of letters written to him by family members of those who died in the crash.
In interviews Napolitano has spoken about the inspiration for this book - the crash of a commercial airliner from South Africa to London in Libya in 2010 when all on board died except for a 9-year-old boy who lost his parents and brother. So interested in this story that Napolitano spent several years writing the fictionalised tale of Dear Edward.
I found myself putting down the book a few times and staring at the wall pondering what I'd just read - a sign of a good book as any bookish person will tell you.
Definitely five out of five stars.
