A heart wrenching, life-affirming novel that asks the question ‘what does it mean truly live, and not just survive?’
One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York bound for Los Angeles. There are 191 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the flight attendant; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons – the mother sitting in first class to keep working on her next script, the father sitting in economy with his two boys. Nothing could prepare any of them for what was coming next. The plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado. There is only one survivor of the crash. The younger of the two sons, 12-year-old Edward Adler.
Edward’s life after the crash is vastly different to anything he’s known. Taken in by his only remaining relatives, Edward has to come to terms with not only the loss of his family and the world as he knew it, but the strangeness of his newfound fame in being the only survivor. As he grows up, Edward soon learns of secrets and hidden folders and letters stored in the garage. Why are there hundreds of letters addressed to him, and why has he only just found them? Through the letters, Edward must confront some of life’s most profound questions: how do we make the most of the time we are given? And what does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
Dear Edward is tragic but beautiful. Told through alternating timelines and perspectives, we learn of both the lead up to the crash and how the crash happened, interspersed with Edward’s story of moving on after the tragedy. Not only do we experience Edward’s tale of before and after, but we lean of those people on the plane as well, snippets of their stories and why they were on the plane. Knowing in advance that only Edward survives the crash makes their tales even more bittersweet, especially when letters from their relatives are found.
Ann Napolitano has created a wonderfully immersive piece of work. Once you’ve started reading, you’ll be completely invested in the compelling story, forgetting about time, food and previous commitments. It will make you think about your life, your time, and what you’re doing with it. It will make you cry as you recognise parts of yourself in different characters and their struggles. It will truly change the way you view the world we live in and make you consider just what to do with the time that is given to us.
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