Epistolary Overload

 “Amazing thing fiction. Tells you more, sometimes, about the writer than the writer can tell you about himself.” Truth.

25.12 The Monsters of Templeton

I love epistolary writing. Love it. When I was in fifth grade, I wrote a story made of letters and placed them in envelopes just like my favorite book, Griffin and Sabine. I was heartbroken to learn my mother had given my copies of those books away. They were fascinating to me. So creative and so powerful. They started my fascination with alternate narration devices.  While teaching, I loved discussing point of view, and how it changes the way a story is told. I also love the use of letters, journals, books with in books, pictures - I love it all!  But man, as much as I love it, there was just too much of it going on here.

The alternating points of view, articles, journals, letters. All the family members, the crazy mom, the sick friend, the affair and pregnancy, the two guys, the crazy ex-girlfriend, daddy drama, the monster. I feel like the town and its legends would have been enough because all families have ghosts and stories and crazy people, but all of the extraneous stuff was exhausting in the end. And it wasn’t needed. To be fair, this is a first book and the idea and writing are good, but that doesn’t mean you have to use it all. She has good reason to love everything she created, she did a wonderful job, but she shouldn’t have included it all.  I feel like this could have been pared down to a really crisp and fun look at a genealogical search without the unnecessary drama. Alas, it wasn’t and I think it suffered in a way that made it unbelievable and less satisfying.