Last Letter Home : The Richard and Judy Book Club pick 2018

Spanning 70 years, from Norfolk to Italy in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Rachel Hore’s stunning new novel uncovers tightly guarded secrets

From the million-copy Sunday Times bestseller comes a timeless love story, lost in letters of the past . . .

Secrets from the past, unravelling in the present… Uncovering secrets that span generations, Rachel delivers intriguing, involving and emotive narrative reading group fiction like few other writers can.

Can a chance encounter unlock one woman's past?

On holiday in Italy, Briony Wood becomes fascinated by the wartime story of a ruined villa hidden amongst the hills of Naples. Not only is it the very place where her grandfather was stationed as a soldier in 1943, but she also discovers that it harbours the secret of a love long lost.

Handed a bundle of tattered letters found buried at the villa, Briony becomes enraptured by the blossoming love story between Sarah Bailey, an English woman, and Paul Hartmann, a young German. The letters lead her back almost seventy years to pre-war Norfolk.

But as Briony delves into Sarah and Paul’s story, she encounters resentments and secrets still tightly guarded. All too quickly it is clear that what happened long ago under the shadow of Vesuvius, she suspects, still has the power to cause terrible pain . . .

Praise for Rachel Hore's novels:
'Compelling, engrossing and moving' SANTA MONTEFIORE
'Simply stunning . . . I savoured every moment’ DINAH JEFFERIES
'A story that stirs the deepest emotions'WOMAN & HOME
‘An emotive and thought-provoking read’ ROSANNA LEY
‘Hore tackles difficult subjects with a clever, light touch and a sunny positivity. Her women are brave and good and you desperately want them to win’  DAILY MAIL
‘A novel thatstirs the deepest emotions’ WOMAN
‘An elegiac tale of wartime love and secrets’ TELEGRAPH
‘A tender and thoughtful tale' SUNDAY MIRROR