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Lydia
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Type designer Ed Austin is on a losing streak. Divorced, and with his daughter studying abroad, he has only an old dog for a companion. His world has contracted into something simple, solitary—and safe. But after acquiring a dozen handwritten letters forgotten in the barn of an old Maine farmhouse, Ed finds himself haunted by thoughts of a nineteenth-century woman named Ly
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A sad, solitary man finding solace in the letters of a nineteenth century woman, named Lydia. Lydia by Brian Willson is a sad, pensive and sorrowful and haunting love-story between a lonely man and a woman from the very long past.
Ed is a lonely, divorced man with a daughter, who lives abroad, and his only companion, his dog. Surprisingly in the barn, he comes across some letters dating back to the 1800s and all those letters were quite sad and addressed by a woman, named Lydia to her husband.
Bu ...more
Ed is a lonely, divorced man with a daughter, who lives abroad, and his only companion, his dog. Surprisingly in the barn, he comes across some letters dating back to the 1800s and all those letters were quite sad and addressed by a woman, named Lydia to her husband.
Bu ...more
There are books that are so engrossing you can not put them down. They pull you forward on the edge of your seat, rushing through to the end, because you must know what happens, have the mystery solved, the crime or riddle solved, before you can rest and put it down. This is not such a book, at least not for me. This was a slow read, a book to savor and think about, to put down, and then pick up again in the quiet at the end of the day.
It was not a happy story. More melancholy and sad, but with ...more
It was not a happy story. More melancholy and sad, but with ...more
Man, dog...and ghost?
Lydia is a melancholy, sweet, romantic story that disguises its true purpose as a thought exercise in how we react to and ultimately address life's transitions. A clear, unpretentious, enjoyable read! ...more
Lydia is a melancholy, sweet, romantic story that disguises its true purpose as a thought exercise in how we react to and ultimately address life's transitions. A clear, unpretentious, enjoyable read! ...more
May 02, 2013
Keetha Mosley
added it
The description of this book ticked several of my boxes - it was about typefaces, it's in New England, and there may or may not be magic or something supernatural afoot? Yes, please!
The descriptions of designing a typeface were fascinating. Overall, I liked this book but the ending left me a little ... lost.
-- spoilers ahead -- The dog was obviously Pumpkin. I guessed that as soon as the three-legged dog appeared. Dorrie's blue eyes were mentioned several times - is she a descendant of a child ...more
The descriptions of designing a typeface were fascinating. Overall, I liked this book but the ending left me a little ... lost.
-- spoilers ahead -- The dog was obviously Pumpkin. I guessed that as soon as the three-legged dog appeared. Dorrie's blue eyes were mentioned several times - is she a descendant of a child ...more
I loved this quiet and beautifully written book. The main character, Ed Austin, is a loner, at once comfortable with his ability to exist without other people, yet unsettled by it. The book describes the beauty of rural Maine, as well as Ed’s hobby of bird watching. It also explains the art of typography, by which Ed earns his living. His life is upended when the ghost of a 19th century woman (from whose troubled letters he is designing a font) appears and lends both mystery and suspense to the
...more
The first several chapters were boring as if reading a journal. I cried through chapter 11-12 and then at about chapter 20 I couldn't put it down. A time travel historical women angel lover.
I later went on to research the authors job as a graphic font creator. Interesting. Yes I looked for "Lydia's Script"
This book does contain several "F" bombs. ...more
I later went on to research the authors job as a graphic font creator. Interesting. Yes I looked for "Lydia's Script"
This book does contain several "F" bombs. ...more
A haunting, unusual romance between a loner and a woman from the past, poignant with detail and emotional authenticity.
Part love story, part ghost story! Vivid storytelling and attention to detail allow the reader to feel the cold of a Maine winter, the warmth of the sun on stone, and hear birdsong in the woods.
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Brian Willson grew up in Austin, where he bounced around the music scene a while before snagging a degree from The University of Texas. In 1980 he became a father and moved with his family to coastal Maine, where he has worked as a journalist and designer of typefaces based on historical materials—including penmanship from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Lydia is his first novel.
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