The Last Letter

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of the death of a child.

“Move on, that was always what came easiest to me. I didn’t form attachments because I didn’t want to, not because I wasn’t capable. Attachments—to people, places, or things—were inconvenient or screwed you over. Because there was only one thing certain, and it was change.”

Beckett reflects on how and why he doesn’t form attachments. At the beginning of the book, Beckett is so averse to forming connections that he refuses to even read Ella’s letter when it arrives. However, Beckett does acknowledge that his aversion to attachments is not from a lack of ability—or, as evidenced later, a lack of desire. Instead, Beckett initially avoids attachment because of a fear of getting hurt.

“Logically, I knew that with the mission over, we’d head home in the next couple of days, or on to the next hellhole. But in that moment, a raw need for connection gripped me in a way that felt like a physical pressure in my chest.”

While he has been able to move on from tragedy stoically so far in his life, Beckett is deeply upset by the death of one of his unit members. Contrary to his earlier statement about not forming attachments, he turns to Ella’s letter to seek connection at this moment and immediately feels drawn to her. That Ella is a source of strength for Beckett before the two even meet indicates The Healing Power of Love and Relationships.

“But Solitude got her name, and her reputation, from the fifteen secluded cabins that dotted our two hundred acres. If someone wanted the convenience of luxury accommodations and proximity to civilization, while still getting away from it all, we were the perfect spot.”

Ella describes Solitude, the bed and breakfast she runs after inheriting it from her grandmother when she passed away. The setting of Telluride, and Solitude particularly, are important in the book—it is where Ella has always lived, and where Beckett eventually lays down roots.