The Lost Letters of Aisling: historical drama of love, courage, and confronting one's past

The Lost Letters of Aisling by Cynthia Ellingsen is a historical drama of love, courage and confronting one’s past. After a near fatal illness, she only requested one thing from her granddaughter, to take her home. To Ireland, to the country she fled after World War II. Despite being close, Rainey knows very little of her grandmother’s past, she knew she could not tell her grandmother no. When they arrive at Aisling, Rainey discovers a trunk filled with letters. The letters take her to 1945 Dublin as the Germans surrender, there are celebrations in the street. Fourteen year old Evie meets her best friend, Harding McGovern. Harding is fiery and the two become as close as sisters. When rumors fly that Harding is involved in black market trade, while dangerous, would be able to fund her dream to immigrate to America. While uncertain of the truth, Evie is determined to stand by her friend at all costs. 

I love historical fiction with a good dual time point of view. The Lost Letters of Aisling promised to be a story of family, friendship, love and the freedom that comes from letting go of the secrets that we hide. From the opening chapter, I was excited until one piece of information took me out of the story entirely. During the celebration, the author writes that the crowd began to sing “God Save the Queen.” However, in 1945, King George VI was King of Great Britain, so “God Save the King” would have been performed. From that point on, I didn’t trust any of the author’s historical details, and there weren’t many, and the characters used phrases that wouldn’t have been common. There were also a few loose ends left at the end of the story which gave an unsatisfying ending. Overall, I did not enjoy this story. I do not recommend The Lost Letters of Aisling. 

The Lost Letters of Aisling is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook