Dear Edward Book Review

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Dear Edward centres on twelve year old Edward who is in a plane crash that kills his family and who walks away as the only survivor. Struggling to come to terms with his new life with his aunt and uncle and the crippling grief that faces him every day, Edward finds solace in his next-door neighbour Shay who is his age. One day, they come across a bag of letters from the families of the place crash victims and what they read will change their perspective and, along with Shay’s help, might just help pull Edward from the darkness of his grief.

The exploration of grief in this book is raw and messy and seen through the eyes of a child, all the more heart-breaking. Edward as a protagonist was unsure of himself, as anyone in that awful situation would be, but I thought it was clever that Napolitano chose to make the protagonist a child and therefore allow the reader to see him grow older and see how the impact of his grief changes with him.

The relationship between Edward and Shay was one of the most interesting parts of the book for me. As children they navigate the complex emotions Edward is feeling but being children meant that Shay often approached situations in a simple, and perhaps therefore better, way. It was refreshing to see their perspectives on the events that unfold and I think ultimately it shows how much adults can learn from children, or at least learn from remembering what it was like to exist in that simpler world.

In particular I enjoyed the ending of this book, it felt incomplete in the same way life does, and throughout this novel the author echos the undeniable truth that life is never perfect and will always be filled with pain (and most likely grief), and, like they did Edward, those moments will shape and us and mould us into the people we become. A brilliant book, I will surely look out for more of Napolitano’s work!