Seven Letters Review by Sinéad Moriarty

A Tale of Loss And Hopelessness

Overview

Seven Letters is the fourteenth novel from the Irish author. I’ve never actually read any of Sinead’s other books but spotted this one in Aldi when I was paying for my groceries, dead handy when you’re all out of books!

Plot

Seven Letters is agonizingly heart-breaking, a tale of complete loss and hopelessness. Sarah the main character is a stay at home mum. Sarah lives to be a mother, it categorically identifies who she is as a person. Along with being an adoring mother to Izzy, Sarah is also the perfect wife to husband Adam, and she couldn’t ask for more. Well maybe another baby perhaps. After years of miscarriages, they’ve finally gotten pregnant again, and things are looking good this time around.

With a little boy on the way, Sarah has everything she’s ever dreamed of her very own perfect family. However, after ignoring persistent headaches, she’s found by her sister Mia collapsed. They soon find out the devastating reality that Sarah now lies brain dead in a coma. Dreadful decisions must be made.

Should Sarah be kept alive for the slim possibility the baby might survive? Should an innocent child be swayed to believe her mam is only sleeping and will wake up on her Communion day? At what point is someone’s life so far gone that you have no choice but to let go?

Mia is barely keeping it together with life as it is, let alone be expected to handle this news. Charlie, their father cannot seem to cope with decisions being out of his hands, could you watch your daughter suffer while you’ve no say? But Sarah’s husband Adam is fighting to keep her alive, anything to save baby Ben. As it all becomes too much, Adam pushes the family away, consumed by the belief everyone is against him. All the while weeks pass by, Sarah’s body starts shutting down piece by piece. It’s up to the entire family to make Adam see sense.

Opinion

While this was a completely emotional read, I did find it quit dragged out. The story was a complete debate into the real-world principals of life and morality. This in one sense was riveting, trying to see both sides, asking yourself what you would do in the situation – I still have no idea! But overall, while I normally enjoy novels told in multiple perspectives, I felt the story was a little lost at times and I found myself cringing a little at some characters. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the other novels I’ve read during isolation. By all means if you see it while you’re doing your shopping pick it up, it was only about €6, but I would by no means be going out of my way to find this one.