The Letter Keeper

by Charles Martin

Libby eBook 500+ pages

Published: 2021

Genre: Christian adventure fiction

This was an intense sequel to The Water Keeper . . . and it has an ending that makes you wish book three were already published!

Chapter 1: "But in my experience, she could either deal with the trauma now or wait until it festered and the residue spilled out her chest."

He's referring to Chris, a young woman he's just rescued from a predator. I think this resonated with me because I've seen people try to stuff or ignore emotional trauma . . . and that doesn't end well for them. It makes me sad when people try to pretend to be okay and they're not.

Chapter 4: "The first casualty at the altar of betrayal was trust. Which meant I was questioning everything."

This is an interesting line . . . Murphy could be referring to Bones or to Summer. Betrayal is such a strong word, but trust being a casualty makes sense.

Chapter 9: "I am putting something in your hand that, left alone, is harmless. But the moment you put your hand on it, it becomes something that breathes fire and deals both life and death. We're not playing with crayons, and this is not a video game."

Murphy is showing Ellie how to handle guns. She wants to be "tough" like her dad.

Chapter 10: "If that summer taught me anything, it was this: girls need their father. Period."

I wish I'd been able to participate in book club on this one. I'm sure the conversation would have been amazing. Dads are very important. But some single moms have done some absolutely powerful parenting . . . and some dads are destructive.

Chapter 14: "...there is something more valuable than money. Although you will have to dig deep to find it."

Part of Bones' graduation letter to Murphy. The "back story" telling that Murphy did for Ellie was really more about his life than Marie's life. It was interesting, though. I think if you hadn't read The Water Keeper first, this book would be less enjoyable / understandable.

Chapter 15: "I want to tell each of them they are Mona Lisa. Priceless. Beautiful and worth celebrating." / "I'll never understand what happens in a man, or sometimes a woman - although it's mostly men - to cause them to think they have the right to own another human. To force another member of the human race, made in the image of God, to do what they don't want to and wouldn't in ten million years. All for money." / "Darkness can't stand light. And it has no counter for it."

All of these jumped out at me. I think of the phrase "man's inhumanity to man" from a war movie. Sex trafficking depraves and deprives humans of dignity and self-worth. Although Martin is an excellent author, something about this topic just curdles my blood.

Chapter 20: "'If you were your enemy, would you want this to be published?' Her face revealed she'd never had this thought. I continued, 'If I were your enemy, I wouldn't want the world to know this. I'd want to keep it hidden. Want you to keep your mouth shut. Want to make you afraid that no one ever will or could love you after they'd read it. But truth is, I could never make you as afraid of me as I would be of your words. So I vote we hack off your enemy and publish this thing in as many countries as we can.'"

Murphy is trying to encourage Casey, but it was clear that her story's publicity would have a down side . . . and it did.

Chapter 22: "Once pure and unadulterated, the voice of hope is now muted by all the stuff we've crammed on top of it." 

It's hard to hold on to innocence and purity as you get older. Life brings lots of opportunities for disappointment, cynicism, and negativity.

Chapter 22: "The difference between what she heard and what I intended, or even what I thought I said, is evidence that the stuff in the pipe is real. That what we breathe in and what we breathe out can actually alter the words that are spoken so they fit a false narrative. But pain, like fear, is a liar. And it has but one lie: This love is too good to be true, and even if it were true, you don't deserve it."

This made me think of the song, "Fear is a Liar." So true!

Chapter 25: "Was her pain deeper than our love?"

 

When Murphy asks this about Casey, I think he knows the answer is yes. Yes, her pain is deeper.

Chapter 29: "'We can help their bodies, but it's their spirits that will need piecing back together.' He nodded. 'And love, the real kind, the kind that walks into hell and says me-for-you, is the only thing in this universe or any other that does that.'" / "Stripped bare, the human soul has one real desire: to know and be known." / "This is the thirst of the human soul, and only one thing satisfies it: to be accepted in the knowing."

 

I wonder what a non-Christian reader comes away with from reading this book. To me, these sentences point back to God and His redeeming love.

 

Chapter 34: "It's one of their deepest wounds - those they thought they could trust turned out not to be trustworthy."

It's a sucker punch to the gut when children's own parents or guardians traffic or abuse them. I cannot fathom this, though I know it happens.

Chapter 39: "'Will you let us call you Daughter?'"

I bawled. Probably my favorite part of the book. But Gunner (the dog) is still my favorite character. Then Clay.

Now I have to wait for book three to come out. The "reveal" on the bad guy . . . ooh. Really wish I could have been at book club!