Dear Mr. Knightley

One Woman’s Journey to Discovering Herself

Endearing. I don't usually use that term with books. It's so overused and because of that, generally meaningless. So take away all the baggage surrounding that word and read it one more time with clear vision.

Endearing.

Yeah. That's what Dear Mr. Knightley is. Despite all the quirks and fears and flaws in heroine Samantha Moore, you will be entirely charmed by her, and possibly just a little protective of her as well. She's such an underdog that you can't help but cheer her on. Plus it's super fun to guess who Mr. Knightly might really be.

Now I realize I’m a bit late to pick up this 2013 read, but better late than never, and if you haven’t read it yet, here’s my recommendation.

And here’s a blurb:

Sam is, to say the least, bookish. An English major of the highest order, her diet has always been Austen, Dickens, and Shakespeare. The problem is that both her prose and conversation tend to be more Elizabeth Bennet than Samantha Moore.

But life for the twenty-three-year-old orphan is about to get stranger than fiction. An anonymous, Dickensian benefactor calling himself Mr. Knightley offers to put Sam through Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. There is only one catch: Sam must write frequent letters to the mysterious donor, detailing her progress.

Sam’s letters to Mr. Knightley become increasingly confessional as she begins to share everything from her painful childhood memories to her growing feelings for eligible novelist Alex Powell. While Alex draws Sam into a world of warmth and literature that feels like it’s straight out of a book, old secrets are drawn to light. And as Sam learns to love and trust Alex and herself, she learns once again how quickly trust can be broken.

Reminding us all that our own true character is not meant to be hidden, Katherine Reay’s debut novel follows a young woman’s journey as she sheds her protective persona and embraces the person she was meant to become.