Editorial Content for The Last Letters of Sally and Walter

When we think of letters, especially "last letters," we usually think of heartfelt correspondence between people sharing ideas and emotions. What probably doesn’t come to mind is the board game Scrabble and the letters we use while playing it. The main characters in Cammie McGovern’s THE LAST LETTERS OF SALLY AND WALTER meet at an independent living community when Sally decides to attend the Scrabble club one evening.

Most clubs meet during the day, so Sally is a bit intrigued by this one, which meets after dinner when most residents are watching television. But when she shows up, she's surprised to find only one person there: Walter, who one of the other residents complained is "a bit intense." He catches her hesitation and says he wouldn't blame her for leaving, as many others have done when they see it’s just him. But Sally decides to stay and play with Walter. This initial game gives us our first inkling that Walter is not great at interpersonal relationships. He crows when he bingos (making a seven-letter word that comes with bonus points) or when he is able to use an "X" or "Z" on a triple-letter square.

"[W]hile this touching, beautifully written novel will definitely appeal to those of a certain age, younger readers will have much to take away from this insightful story about family and parenting. No one is perfect, but with this inspirational book, we can aspire to be better."

But Sally learns a lot about Scrabble during that intense game, and although she is soundly defeated, she suggests a rematch. She still loses but performs much better. As it turns out, Sally is something of a Scrabble prodigy and enjoys the mental challenge of the game. Walter is delighted with her prowess and decides to tutor her so she can attend a tournament with him. As they play together, they slowly get to know one another.

Over the first half of the novel, we learn a lot about Scrabble and the tournaments, the rules, and the great words to use. For those of us who play Words with Friends, some of these words might be very useful! We find out that Sally and Walter's first marriages ended with the deaths of their respective spouses. Their unions were far from perfect, as Sally's husband suffered from depression. He sometimes "disappeared" for days or weeks and wasn’t really much of a husband or father. Sally tried to pretend to her children that everything was fine, but obviously it wasn't. She still hasn't talked to them about his depression.

Sally also shielded her children from the rough parts of life --- tying her son Andrew's shoes until he was in fourth grade, letting him win games that he really lost. McGovern writes, "Only now did she realize what a mistake it had been, ensuring he won every game they played and enrolling him exclusively in activities he could succeed at. He never learned that it was possible to be good without being the best, or that he would improve if he cared about something and worked hard at it." There's also the fact that Sally suspects Andrew might be on the autism spectrum. It’s never been diagnosed, and she's never broached the subject with him.

Walter's relationship with his wife and son was awkward. He never knew how to talk to them, and even though he loved his wife dearly, he wasn’t sure how to make that clear to her. Even now, he's at a loss with his son, Gavin, when it comes to talking about anything. It seems that whatever he says doesn’t come out the way it was intended or is taken the wrong way by Gavin. When Walter begins to have feelings for Sally, the same thing happens. He thinks of everything he wants to tell her, but when he's actually facing her, he chokes up.

Sally also has that problem. She's not sure if it's because she spent the last five years of her marriage "caring for a man who rarely acknowledged her feelings or expressed his own." So she kept quiet, swallowing her own emotions and needs because she did what was expected. And now that Walter is in her life, she still doesn't know how to open up about the things that are plaguing her.

Sally and Walter are senior citizens who are hampered physically. Sally has Parkinson's disease. While her symptoms are pretty mild at the start of the novel, she knows what the future looks like. It isn't pretty. She's supposed to avoid stress, but entering a Scrabble tournament is intense. Sally does it anyway. Walter has his own issues, including problems with his prostate.

THE LAST LETTERS OF SALLY AND WALTER is not filled with action. There is no mystery. There are no great twists or a surprise ending. But we can relate to its characters and their special needs. We feel insecure when faced with new situations. We are often wary of sharing personal problems. We find it difficult to grant ourselves grace about mistakes we have made. Sally and Walter are deeply flawed, especially in their role as parents, but still they slowly change and grow. Because even those of us with gray hair and shaky balance have the ability --- and often the desire --- to improve as human beings and do things that leave the world in a better place than it was.

Those who are familiar with McGovern's other novels, including her middle-grade and young adult fiction (all of which I highly recommend), will not be surprised that Sally and Walter advocate for more support for those with disabilities who want to participate in tournament Scrabble but might need accommodations.

This is the kind of quiet novel that makes us ponder bigger issues. What would we do differently if we could? Were we the best parents we could have been (and that answer is always “no”)? Can we still help our children even if they are adults? And while this touching, beautifully written novel will definitely appeal to those of a certain age, younger readers will have much to take away from this insightful story about family and parenting. No one is perfect, but with this inspirational book, we can aspire to be better.