Norfolk author releases new novel Letters to a Stranger

Mrs Mitchell, who lives in Letheringsett, near Holt, said Letters to a Stranger was a heartbreaking tale of love and family secrets set during both the recent pandemic lockdowns and in the Second World War. 

The whole novel is composed of letters between the different characters.

Author Sarah Mitchell, who lives in Letheringsett (Image: Supplied)

Mrs Mitchell, 57, said: “A letter is a sort of gift – a gift of the writer’s time and energy in that they have chosen to go to the effort that writing and posting a letter requires. 

“Sadly, I think it is a dying form, probably because of the ease and immediacy of messaging and email options.

“I’m very aware that in years to come my children won’t have the pleasure and time-travelling experience of being able to re-read letters from their old friends.” 

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Mrs Mitchell said she was inspired to write about the war by her parents, who met when they were taking shelter in the same Nissan hut during a rainstorm.

The front cover of Sarah Mitchell's Letters to a Stranger (Image: Supplied)

She said: “As I grew older I became acutely aware how immensely different their young lives had been to my own, and writing about the war gives me a chance to better understand what they lived through.”

She said a magazine article about children writing to care home residents during the lockdowns had given her the idea for the story. 

Letters to a Stranger is Mrs Mitchell’s fourth novel - she took up writing 10 years ago after starting a master’s degree at UEA. She said it took around 14 months to write.

 She said her best advice for aspiring novelists was to take a creative writing course and “write forward” - get a first draft down without worrying if everything is perfect. 

Letters to a Stranger is available on Amazon.