I Sent a Letter to My Love

by Bernice Rubens, Peter Florence

Amy Evans retained all her life the squat nose of her childhood, stubbed on to her face like a plasticine afterthought, a chin too long for any practical purpose, and eyes so close together that it seemed the sole function of the bridge of her nose was to keep them apart. For comfort she would go down to the beach, where the breeze from the sea blew into her face her share of the beauty to which her brother had so liberally helped himself. The gulls would wait for her to leave, no matter how long she stayed, for they were real gentlemen—the only gentlemen she was ever to meet in her life. Now in her late fifties, Amy faces a struggle on two fronts. Loneliness looms large as the chance of finding love grows more remote. Survival depends on the outcome of her search for a love object, and this tale, set in Porthcawl on the coast of South Wales, tells the moving and unsentimental story of Amy’s bold play for happiness—and her dangerous success.

Genres: Fiction, Literature, British Literature

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Bernice Rubens was born in Cardiff, Wales in July 1928. She began writing at the age of 35, when her children started nursery school. Her second novel, Madame Sousatzka (1962), was filmed by John Schlesinger filmed with Shirley MacLaine in the leading role in 1988. Her fourth novel, The Elected Member, won the 1970 Booker prize. She was shortlisted for the same prize again in 1978 for A Five Year Sentence. Her last novel, The Sergeants’ Tale, was published in 2003. She was an honorary vice-president of International PEN and served as a Booker judge in 1986. Bernice Rubens died in 2004 aged 76.

Reviews

[Brian Finnegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Sent a Letter to My Love is about Amy Evans, an ugly woman in her fifties who lives with and reluctantly cares for her disabled brother, Stan, in a small Welsh seaside town. In a desperate bid for love and a life of her own she places a classified advert in the local paper and the only answer she gets is from her brother, who secretly has romantic and sexual desires of his own. Amy creates an alter ego called Blodywn Pugh and begins a correspondence with Stan. This is a perfectly polished jewel of a book, heartbreaking, hilarious, life-affirming and full of characters so real they live in your imagination long beyond the final page. The Booker prize-winning Bernice Rubens may be a largely forgotten author, but it’s well time she was rediscovered and celebrated.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bernice Rubens' I Sent A Letter to My Love is an odd sort of romance. You know from the beginning of the affair that it isn't going to go well. I think the emotions depicted here feel real -- the frustrated dreams, the weird tension, the growing to love and want and be confident...

The problem with it, for me, is that it's also very uncomfortable. I felt embarrassed for the main character, and just... I didn't like how it could turn out. The end is both final for her and very open for everyone else.

Plus, I know an Amy Evans.

I wondered about Blodwen Pugh. Could just be a coincidence, both are common Welsh names, but one of Rhys Davies' short stories is called Blodwen, and she's the main character, and she has a lover, Pugh... I wonder if that's linked to the sexual freedom aspect of this story.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten what a brilliant writer Bernice Rubens was. She had a wonderful gift for finding the extraordinary in ordinary lives and exposing human frailty with a wicked and delicious humour. At the same time there is a real compassion for her characters who come alive on the page so vividly. In this novel, set in Porthcawl (South Wales) the dialogue is spot-on with a perfect Welsh phrasing of the English language so that you can hear the characters speak.

Ageing Amy looks after her wheelchair-bound brother, Stan, but longs for some love and excitement in her life. She places an ad in the Personal columns of the local newspaper with unexpected consequences that will have long-lasting repercussions.

Their family friend, Gwyneth, provides the butt of much of the humour and gives tension to the relationships. There are laugh-out-loud moments yet this is also a moving and touching novel. Brilliantly concise it achieves what others fail to do in much longer tomes.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stan is the adored child with rickets, Amy is the despised child with a snub nose and plain features, and both find the attention of their mother difficult to handle. We see their childhood through Amy’s sad and troubled eyes.

Fast forward several decades. Their parents are dead. Amy thinks her mother died of anger. She is now in her 50s, and she and Stan are living together – uncomfortably and abrasively, but within the security of their small town routine. Stan’s life is only worth living because he can drum up memories of a seemingly carefree childhood. Amy’s memories of her childhood are far less benign.

Then one day they both get involved with a Lonely Hearts column, and everything changes.

This is a story about how fantasy can take over from reality, and what the highs and lows of falling in love can bring to the lives of two lonely people. After a while reality starts to butt in – firstly in ways that are bizarrely controllable, and finally in ways that are out of control.

Bernice Rubens is a great story-teller, and the storyline is utterly gripping, particularly in the second half of the book, once the letters start...

An excellent read.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my reading so far, Rubens could have quite accurately named her novels 'Misery: Volumes 1-27'. Each is tinctured with a black humour, the quantity of which often makes the difference between success and failure. More often than not, Rubens gets it right, and 'I Sent a Letter...' achieves a higher hit rate akin to her Booker-noninated 'A Five Year Sentence'.

Not that there is much to laugh about on the surface. Amy Evans grew up unloved by her parents, considers herself ugly (overweight, with a tiny flat nose and an almost Habsburg chin), and is now a lonely older woman caring for her disabled (TB) brother. They have one friend who visits with homemade bread, whose sexual repression offers one outlet for comedy. On the surface, however, this Porthcawl trio present the purest tableau of tragedy.

As a child Amy externalised her misery by running through the streets, shrieking like the gulls overhead. As an adult Amy must find other outlets beyond avian primal screams. Letters sent by PO Box become the answer and set up a surprisingly rich set of comic opportunities both around the house and in the next town's Post Office and shops.

Rubens remains bleak and her characters are grotesque in more than appearance. A sensible alien sampling human nature from Rubens's books wouldn't stick around long. There is a tenderness that emerges in the letter-writing however, as well as a warning-meets-lesson on where more desperate people might judiciously pin their hopes. Rubens plays the full harp of emotional responses, far beyond the usual range of genre fiction. The signature flavour is always misery, but the journey to getting there with Rubens is always full of incident, along a road less travelled.

[Mary Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A jewel of a book, a lonely woman Amy lives with her disabled brother Stan and is desperate for a last chance at love as she approaches her 60s. As she becomes proactive in her search things take an unexpected turn. Some laugh out moments as Amy negotiates her predicament with Stan and their friend Gwen. Darkly comic exploring how fantasy and real life merge.

[Merrilie Rowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delight by Bernice Rubens. Her stories always take one down unexpected pathways and I always find myself being totally surprised. There always seems to be an air of pathos cleverly hidden by often very funny scenarios. This book is no exception. Fantastic story telling.

[John Newcomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure about this one. An old woman and her crippled brother have lived together since their parents death and are lonely. She places an advert in the lonely hearts column and he, unknowingly replies. It could have been funny but there is an over riding sadness about the whole thing.

[Joe Savage]

1/5 read as part of Ripped Up Book Club™️

Wild book to read one fifth of.

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second Bernice Rubens book I've read, and it's as sad and dark-humored as the first.

I really like the way Rubens portrays loneliness, longing, and isolation. Amy, who has been lonely and unloved her entire life due to her "ugliness," yearns to be wanted and accepted - to the point that her longing carries her into an escapist fantasy (adopting a made-up identity through which she exchanges love letters with her own lonely, disabled brother). Amy gets so caught up in this fantasy - the only source of love and happiness that she has ever known - that she desperately works to prolong it, going to bizarre lengths to keep up the ruse. In all, this was like a sad, beautifully written train-wreck that I could not look away from.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Rubens.

[Care · Rating 4 out of 5]

I REALLY enjoyed this book! The style and mood of this work is playful, intense, creative and enticing. and dark, but not a depressing dark, maybe sinister is the better word here. Just one of these feelings where you wonder ‘uh oh. This isn’t going to end well!’ But you HAVE to keep reading to find out! It doesn’t end as bad as I imagined… But on the other hand, it isn’t what I’d call a happy ending, either.

[http://bkclubcare.wordpress.com/2008/...]

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad I found Bernice Rubens. She really captures her characters. This is the story about loneliness, and the forms love finds when we search for connection in a deeply flawed world. It is at times horrifying and often very comitragic.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really well written novel but rather an uncomfortable read. It's been a long time since I read any other Bernice Rubens but I remember enjoying the dark comedy in them - this was just dark and tragic and not funny for me. Back to chick lit to brighten things up next I think.

[Mary Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangely enough, this book, like my last, is about a brother and sister. Both now in their fifties, Amy and Stan, who is now confined to a wheelchair, live together. Amy wonders if she has a last chance to find love.

Darkly delicious as Bernice Rubens always is

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled to read this one but enjoyed the story overall.

[Annebeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange and sad story