36 pages • 1 hour read
The Last Letter From Your Lover
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Character Analysis
Ellie Haworth
Ellie Haworth is a young woman in 2003 who works as a feature writer for fictional London based newspaper, the Nation. Superficially successful, she has a “perfect little flat,” “a great job,” and is “pretty enough to attract attention” (317). However, a recent affair with married writer, John Armour, has “begun to consume her in ways that are not exactly enviable” (317). This is because, despite her professed love for him, he pays her limited attention and is unwilling to commit. This equivocal attitude is epitomized by his text messages to Ellie, which are typically short, casual, and lazy.
When Ellie finds a series of love letters from the 1960s, her eyes are opened to the possibility of a different kind of romance: one that is passionate, earnest, and centered on beautifully written, honest communication. Pursuing the story behind these letters for an article, she gains the courage to leave John and romantically connects with a librarian named Rory. The exact status of her relationship with Rory though is left ambiguous at the end of the novel. He is imminently travelling to Peru, and Ellie asks him to write. It is unclear when they will see each other again. It is also unclear whether Ellie is now capable of a healthier relationship or has replaced her consuming obsession with John to an obsession with the romance of tragedy, distance, and epistolary communication.
Jennifer Stirling
After first meeting Jennifer, Anthony describes her as a “Spoilt little tai tai” whom you can find “in any city” (71). He adds that “such women tended to have little to say of interest” (61). There are two key elements to his insult. First, “tai-tai” is a Chinese colloquial term for the non-working wife of a wealthy man. It suggests a woman who sees herself as important but is in fact idle, vapid, and conceited. Second, and relatedly, Anthony implies that although women like Jennifer view themselves as special, they are totally commonplace.
It is significant that overhearing these comments helps Jennifer initiate her affair with Anthony. The insult sparks an interest and a desire to become something truly different. She recognizes that there is some truth in Anthony’s words, that, as she later realizes, “she had never done anything by herself” (374). Through this relationship, she starts to become someone distinct and active as she becomes disillusioned with conventional life as a kept married woman.
This transformation faces obstacles. Her husband lies and tells her Anthony died, gaslighting her to keep her in place. Her friends, parents, and society overall, attempt to censor her behavior as “immoral” and “selfish” (381). Jennifer continually struggles with the tension between social expectations and her desire to realize her true self. This culminates in her rejecting Anthony after their brief reunion because of concern for her daughter’s reputation. As a result, she spends 40 years without the man she loves.
Anthony O’Hare, “Boot”
Jennifer describes her husband as a man “in whom expression had been driven out” and Anthony as “his opposite […] passionate, damaged” (364). In other words, one reason Jennifer fell for Anthony was because he could express emotion and feeling. As she says, “this man had opened himself to her in a way that Laurence never could” (120). Yet with this passion and openness comes vulnerability. Developing a sensitivity to oneself and the world through expression puts one at a greater risk of being hurt. This is especially true when one bears one’s soul to another human being with the hope of reciprocation.
This partly explains Anthony’s troubled relationship with alcohol. First in the Congo and then at Laurence Stirling’s dinner party, he uses alcohol to dull his sensitivity to the problems of the world around him. He also uses it to avoid confronting the problems of his past, especially regarding his estranged son. When he meets Jennifer and can express himself through letters to her, he feels this need drop away. He sees his sensitivity and awareness as something to be embraced, not numbed. Yet when she rejects him after their meeting at the hotel, he catastrophically relapses and reverts to believing that expression and emotional openness, must be suppressed rather than nurtured. It is also why after that catastrophe and his time in hospital, he is unable to write. It is not just that with Jennifer out of his life the motivation for any sort of writing has gone. He has come to believe that “writing is perilous” (475).
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