The Last Letter From Your Lover

Family plays a minimal role in The Last Letter from Your Lover. Neither Ellie nor Jennifer has siblings and, except for the significant story about Jennifer’s father thrashing her, parents barely appear. This is summed up by Ellie’s mother’s birthday email to her. The only time she is given a voice in the novel, it is to express the banality that, “the dog is doing well after having his hip replaced” (321). Friends, however, are central in the lives of both Ellie and Jennifer. They are second only in importance to lovers and are a main source of moral and existential advice. So, what is it that they say?

Jennifer’s friends represent the voices of convention. When recovering from amnesia and feeling alienated from life, Yvonne and Violet provide the context by which she can return to and accept middle-class normality. Drinks, dinner parties, and light conversation are there to discourage “fretting” over the past, easing her back into a socially acceptable way of being (46). Deeper questions are brushed aside. As Jennifer starts defying this, flirting with one of Yvonne’s cousins, this mask starts to slip. Yvonne makes it clear that she is upsetting her husband and that this will not be tolerated.