The term “epistolary novel” refers to works of fiction written in the form of letters or other documents (diaries and journals, telegrams, and in the age of technology, voice messages and e-mails). Some novels that use this device are Frankenstein, Dracula, The Princess Diaries, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Daisy Jones & The Six.
It’s somewhat more difficult to use the technique in film, though it’s been done (the books I listed above have all been made into films, and the RomCom that kicked this off, Love Again, has mis-sent text messages as an integral part of the plot). A little less complex than the epistolary format is a familiar device in movies and novels that have, as part of the plot, misdirected, misplaced, stolen, or hidden letters.
A found letter is important to the plot of The Love Letter (1998), one of the RomCom rewatches I’ve enjoyed. Another quiet film set in a charming, small town (with a bookstore!), I don’t know many people who’ve seen this movie. A typed letter, without the names of its composer or recipient on it, finds its way into the hands of several people in town. Each thinks the letter was meant for him or her (and one person rewrites it and offers it to a loved one as if he were its original author). By the end, we learn the identity of the writer, and there’s a lot of hopefully-ever-after among the characters.
Do you have any favorite movies or books that use letters as part of the writing or part of the plot?
Additional rewatches so far:
1993 and 2003
Frankenstein and The Color Purple might be the only epistolary novels that I have read, although it seems odd if I have only read two? Part of me would like to read Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa, but I don’t think I would be able to remember the beginning by the time I was halfway through!