Beka Wueste’s The Unsent Letters of Lucy Prior is a captivating novel that explores a lifetime of love and emotional trauma, revealed through unsent correspondence left amidst the belongings of a recently deceased woman.

The story begins with a Prologue by Art Burleson, the hired manager of Lucy Prior’s hired estate, explaining how he had discovered Lucy’s unmailed letters along with her instructions stipulating that they were either to be sent as addressed, posted online, or thrown away.

Each subsequent chapter is comprised of a letter Lucy wrote to people from her past who influenced her life. Many are positive and complimentary. She offers sincere thank yous to those who helped her escape an unbearable home situation, advance her education, and move towards a brighter future. She also apologizes to friends she felt she had abandoned in their times of need.

Other letters are scathing. Lucy writes to a former co-worker who was a phony and sycophant and who left Lucy distrusting people at work. In a letter to her father, addressed “To the Worst Person I Ever Knew,” she voices her hatred of this vile man. With no children of her own, Lucy is thankful to deny his lineage and hopes he will “burn in Hell.”

Lucy’s voice is honest and genuine; the themes of love, friendship, regret, and betrayal are authentic and relatable. The revelations unspool at a steady pace (although in Lucy’s critical letter to the church, her listing of chapters, verses, and Psalms from the Bible slows momentum and seems a bit excessive). The narrative allows readers to reflect on their own happy remembrances and deepest regrets.

This is a quiet novel, without a lot of action or adventure, but one that provides a wealth of food for thought about the sorrows and secrets we all harbor and how small moments make up the mosaic of our lives. Overall, readers will find it a poignant, heartfelt, and provocative read.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.