Epistolary novels tell their stories through “found” documents such as letters, journals, emails, text messages, and medical files, but creating a compelling narrative from those fragments is far more difficult than it appears.
The format can be immersive, creative, and deeply personal when it works. When it doesn’t, it often feels forced, repetitive, or strangely artificial. That’s one reason I tend to approach epistolary novels with a healthy dose of skepticism. Every once in a while, I read one that completely wins me over, but more often than not, I find myself wishing the author had simply told the story conventionally instead. Recently, I read The Brides by Charlotte Cross, and its successful use of the epistolary format reminded me how difficult this type of novel is to write well.
Continue reading “Why epistolary novels are so difficult to write well”