This is another book recommended by our friends and neighbors, Marian and Brian Wangsgard. They both love this book and enthusiastically told me I wouldn't be disappointed. I would give it 4 stars. Yes, it's delightful and very clever, and it helped me through a day I had a bad headache, but is it a great one? No.
It reminded me of the Guernsey Potato Peel Society (wrong title, but I know what I mean) book in two ways: it's a story told in letters (epistolary) and it's set among an isolated, usually friendly society. The people and their letters are very charming. And it took all of my brain power to understand some of the nuances that come near the end of the story.
The part I didn't like was the cruelty of the ruling board and the lack of any substantial resistance to it. I know the author intended it as a cautionary tale, but there isn't any subtlety to it. I felt a bit clobbered over the head with that. But what is fun is the mental challenge of the words, and I had to admire the vocabulary of the residents as they chose words that would not contain the forbidden letters but still get their ideas across. There are parts that are just so clever I laughed out loud and shook my head. This author is brilliant and obviously a lover of words and wordsmithing. I also enjoyed the development of the romances and relationships as they unfolded. Nice too, that the whole story ended happily. It's a charming book with a sinister undertone. Enjoyable.
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