Letter detective searches for love

“The Lost Letters of William Woolf” by Helen Cullen is the first novel by the author. It is a story told through the lost art of letter writing.

William Woolf works as a letter detective at the Dead Letters Depot in East London. The Depot was founded in 1937 and was a converted tea factory. A letter detective received letters that were missing addresses, had been torn, were addressed to unknown streets or simply could not be delivered for whatever reason. There were 30 people that worked as detectives at the Dead Letters Depot.

William has been a letter detective for 11 years. William inherited the position from his Uncle Archie. When William was a child, his uncle would come almost ever y Friday for tea. During this time he would always share stories about the letters he worked with. William wrote his favorite stories in a notebook. Archie told of the sentimental, valuable, incomprehensible, bizarre, and dead things that were sent through the mail. The first postmaster after the depot opened was photographed with dead animals that had been sent and ended up at the depot.

When William actually started working at the depot, he realizes his uncle’s stories were pretty accurate. Each detective cultivated their collection of most memorable discoveries. For William his was a suit of armor that was in a silver sea chest, a miniature grandfather clock and 2 red admiral butterflies. There were also those that he would like to forget, such as departed creatures, soggy parcels and those with terrible smells.

Day after day, hundreds of new parcels arrived and the letter detectives searched for clues to send the parcels to their desired destination. At times the detectives would personally deliver some of the valued items so there was no chance they would become lost again. William loved his job and was ver y content.

The Lost Letters of William Woolf By Helen Cullen This book is available at Sterling Public Library.

William is married to Clare. The two met at a book club William had tried to organize on the university campus. It was unsuccessful and Clare and William were the only two who showed up. The two began dating and married. In the beginning they had great hopes and ambitions, they laughed and shared adventures. But over the years they stopped communicating and began arguing. Clare feels as though William has no drive anymore and is content with his job that is going nowhere. They seem to be living separate lives.

One day William finds a dark blue envelope in the lost letters addressed to “My Great Love.” The letter is written by a woman named Winter to a man she has never met. Winter believes she is writing to her soulmate who she will

meet through the letter. More letters are received at the depot and William believes they were meant for him. He sets out to solve the myster y and find Winter.

I enjoyed the book and particularly the letters that were received at the Dead Letters Depot. Trying to find their final destination was intriguing and the stories they told were genuine. I would have loved to have more of the lost letters included and how they found their final destination. One of my favorite is a package that has a medal in it. It is also a stor y that points out how important communication is in relationships. As you get involved with William and Clare’s life, the ending may be a surprise to some.

Sandy Van Dusen is the Library Superintendent at Sterling Public Library.