The Calico Critic: Book Review: Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay

Welcome to the next stop in the Litfuse publicity tour for Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay!

About the book:

Samantha Moore has always hidden behind the words of others-namely her favorite characters in literature. Now, she will learn to write her own story-by giving that story to a complete stranger.

Growing up orphaned and alone, Sam found her best friends in the works of Austen, Dickens, and the Brontë sisters. The problem is that she now relates to others more comfortably as Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre than as herself.

Sometimes we lose ourselves in the things we care about most.
But life for this twenty-three-year-old is about to get stranger than fiction, when an anonymous benefactor (calling himself "Mr. Knightley") offers to put Sam through the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. There is only one catch: Sam must write frequent letters to the mysterious donor, detailing her progress.

As Sam's program and peers force her to confront her past, she finds safety in her increasingly personal letters to Mr. Knightley. And when Sam meets eligible, best-selling novelist Alex Powell, those letters unfold a story of love and literature that feels as if it's pulled from her favorite books. But when secrets come to light, Sam is --- once again --- made painfully aware of how easily trust can be broken.

Reay's debut novel follows one young woman's journey as she sheds her protective persona and embraces the person she was meant to become.

As the years go by, do you find yourself becoming more emotionally available to people? Or do you find life’s difficulties helping you to build a wall to shut others out? In Dear Mr. Knightley, we find journalism student Samantha Moore, who is of that latter persuasion. She has been through many trials in her 23 years and as a defense mechanism, she keeps others at bay. Physical contact is kept to a minimum. Interpersonal relationships are kept distant by her hiding her personality behind characters from classic works of fiction, such as Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. In short, she is a bit of a neurotic, literary mess. Through a process of letter writing to an anonymous benefactor, unexpected new friendships and a considerable amount of soul-searching, Samantha tries to make sense of her past and works to have a better future, both personally and professionally.

Dear Mr. Knightly has some characteristics that I’ve found several times in other recently-published novels. The main character is a bit of an insecure, romantic “Austen Addict”, and references to Austen’s work are sprinkled throughout the narrative and dialogue. As a Janeite I do enjoy these literary cameos, but I hope that those who have never read Austen, Dickens or Dumas will still be able to enjoy the general story overall.
This title is published by Thomas Nelson, a noted Christian imprint. While God, Jesus and other spiritual ideas are presented, they are extremely light-handed, and for the most part emerge near the end of the story. The novel might end up in the “Inspirational Fiction” section of the local bookstore, but it could easily stand in general fiction as well. It doesn’t have the innocent tone of many Christian novels, addressing some fairly difficult, gritty issues surrounding abused children and the foster care system. Cursing is mentioned, but the most colorful word that I can recall was the repeated use of the exclamation, “crap”. By today’s standards, that’s pretty tame.

Romance is one of the main themes of Dear Mr. Knightley, but it doesn’t drip with gooey sentimentality or steamy sex scenes. The characters do feel passionately, but the text is kept very chaste, thankfully. Other authors feel the need to insert sexual situations to spice up their writing, and I was grateful that Ms. Reay was confident enough in her talent to not go in that direction in her work.

Overall I would judge Dear Mr. Knightley as a pleasant book that addresses important social, interpersonal and spiritual issues while sharing a sweet, romantic tale. Reay’s writing is smooth and enjoyable, and her love for literature is quite evident. Unlike other Austenesque writers who quote from classic literature, she branches out to other authors’ works. The Count of Monte Cristo is mentioned frequently, and I was particularly delighted at the appearance of C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Sometimes I felt that her use of these literary cameos became a bit too frequent, but as a lover of these books, I couldn’t help but enjoy encountering them.

So while I would not term Dear Mr. Knightley as the best Austenesque fiction, it was a light, pleasant read. The narrative takes a few twists and turns that I did not expect, and I appreciated Reay’s choice to keep the content clean. Her main characters were very appealing and multi-dimensional throughout the novel. And while the book might be categorized as Christian Fiction, it could easily be read by secular audiences as well. Lovers of fiction and classic authors in particular will also have many moments of amusement with the literary cameos. Katherine Reay has presented a pleasant debut novel, one that is certainly praiseworthy and hopefully just the beginning of this author’s fictional writing career.

Take a look at the other stops on the Litfuse tour!

Landing page:

http://litfusegroup.com/author/kreay

Meet the author:

Katherine Reay has enjoyed a life-long affair with the works of Jane Austen and her contemporaries. After earning degrees in history and marketing from Northwestern University, she worked as a marketer for Proctor & Gamble and Sears before returning to school to earn her MTS. Her works have been published in "Focus on the Family" and The Upper Room. Katherine currently lives with her husband and three children in Seattle. Dear Mr. Knightley is her first novel. Learn more about Katherine at: http://katherinereay.com/

A review copy of Dear Mr. Knightley was provided for critiquing purposes only.

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