Dear Mr. Knightley by Katheringe Reay

Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay was as delightful as I hoped it would be. Written almost entirely as a series of letters, I wasn't sure if it would be easy to get into but it was. It really was. I love the influx of debut novelists lately, and this is one that I will be sure to watch for more from.

Sweet, vulnerable, gripping, and sometimes heart-wrenching, Dear Mr. Knightley touched on almost everything that I love in a book. It had a character who showed growth throughout the novel, it showed her searching for something and then finding it, showed the different facets of relationships and levels of friendships. There was nothing that I didn't like about this book. It was simply darling.

From the back cover:
Sam is, to say the least, bookish. An English major of the highest order, her diet has always been Austen, Dickens, and Shakespeare. The problem is, both her prose and conversation tend to be more Elizabeth Bennet than Samantha Moore.
Bu life for the twenty-three-year-old orphan is about to get stranger than fiction. An anonymous, Dickensian benefactor (calling himself Mr. Knightley) offers to put Sam through Northwestern University's prestigious Medill School of Journalism. There is only one catch: Sam must write frequent letters ot the mysterious donor, detailing her progress.
As Sam's dark memory mingles with that of eligible novelist Alex Powell, her letters to Mr. Knightley become increasingly confessional. While Alex draws Sam into a world of warmth and literature that feels like it's straight out of a book, old secrets are drawn to light. And as Sam learns to love and trust Alex and herself, she learns once again how quickly trust can be broken.
Reminding us all that our own true character is not meant to be hidden, Reay's debut novel follows one young woman's journey as she sheds her protective persona and embraces the person she was meant to become.

This book was provided for review by LitFuse.