![]() ![]() The Letter Opener is that rare book that nourishes both the mind and the heart, at once wise and tender. “Maclear has produced an ingenious work of fiction that combines rich, intimate characters with a narrative that unfolds like a puzzle box. The result was a touching book, something that you want to read slowly to take it all in, as the pieces all fit together so delicately. In this way the book was reminiscent of a fine book of poetry or a beautiful painting - every word is deliberate. ![]() There is an attention to detail that isn’t just a neurotic cataloguing, but considers the emotional nuances.” ![]() “A really good book and excellent first novel. “This is a wonderful story of memory, loss and acceptance.” “This quiet, beautifully written & thoughtful novel about a postal clerk & her efforts to reconnect people with their misdirected mail at the Undeliverable Mail Office provides remarkable insights into the mercurial nature of identity, loss & personal history.” “In her wise and lovely first novel, Maclear explores the workings of human attachment.” The title could indicate Naiko, Andrei, or the common object that resembles a knife… In this unusual, cerebral tale, Maclear shows her young narrator striving-successfully at last-to connect the missing pieces into the great puzzle that is the world.” ![]() “Nothing in Naiko’s life seems securely anchored: just as Maclear’s prose bubbles with multiple meanings. “A subtle moving literary debut … Maclear handles the story with care and attention to detail… The Letter Opener is a promising start for Maclear as a novelist.” Things tell stories, often tragic ones-the enumeration of Naiko’s mother’s possessions, which include 163 ballpoint pens and 51 empty egg cartons, poignantly shows a woman slowly losing her mind.” “Maclear’s writing is thoughtful and well paced…Where she shines is in her thoughtful ruminations on how possessions, mere things, are not always just possessions or mere things. “Maclear a very felicitous way with words that makes the book a compelling read… There are piercing insights here, particularly about the nature of the immigrant experience in Canada… There is resonance and thoughtfulness to Maclear’s writing, in her visceral championing of the lost, the forgotten, the quiet, and even the shabby.” She has a way of drawing characters and drawing readers to them.” “A graceful debut illuminates what the objects in people’s lives reveal about them” Maclear is a writer with many gifts, all of them on display in this strong debut.” It is hard to believe that this is a first novel. Maclear’s instincts are apt in leavening her potentially dark tale with dashes of humour.… In The Letter Opener all the elements of craft are woven together into a rich and seamless tapestry. “Like the masterful Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, Maclear creates a layered world that is both real and dream-like.… Her language and tone are just right, neither sentimental nor sensationalist. Canada Reads 2009 Winner Lawrence Hill selects The Letter Opener as one of his ‘Book Picks’. A fabulous premise, and written with lyricism, intelligence and heart, about a Japanese-Canadian woman working in the Undeliverable Mail Office (for orphaned letters and keepsakes) and trying to track down the Romanian refugee who has disappeared from her life after befriending her at work. This first novel came out in 2007, and deserves wider attention. ![]()
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