Letter from Chicago

Letter from Chicago is a novella by Irish author Cathy Kelly in the Open Door series. Sisters Elsie and Maisie are grandmothers who haven’t see each other for forty-five years: not since Maisie married and moved to Chicago, where Maisie’s family are now prosperous and important. But they exchange regular letters, and this is the root of the trouble when Maisie writes to say her granddaughter Charleen is coming to stay in Dublin. Elsie has perhaps exaggerated her own family’s good fortune just a bit, so her daughter Kim’s position as headmistress, her mansion in the country, her housekeeper and her children’s ponies exist more in Elsie’s imagination that in reality. Nonetheless, once she confesses, her resourceful younger daughter, Clodagh pulls the family together to save the day. And when Charleen and her friend arrive, certain truths are revealed. The plot may be predictable, but the execution is faultless; the characters are appealing and the novella has a feel-good ending.