The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

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💌 The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 out of 5 stars | Genre: Historical Romance / Contemporary Romance | Dual Timeline | Heartfelt, Literary, Timeless

🕰️ Love Letters, Lost Time, and the Hope of One More Chance…

Jojo Moyes delivers again—with a poignant, romantic, quietly powerful story that spans decades, continents, and broken hearts. The Last Letter from Your Lover is everything you want in a cross-generational love story: emotional, swoony, a little mysterious, and satisfyingly grown-up.

This book was like a warm cup of tea on a rainy day, and I adored it.

✉️ Part One: Jennifer + “B” | London, 1960

The story begins in swinging ’60s London—though there’s not much swinging going on in Jennifer Stirling’s life. She’s a glamorous but emotionally stifled socialite, married to Laurence, a wealthy man with the charisma of a fax machine and the warmth of a frozen dinner.

When Laurence takes Jennifer to the French Riviera (because that’s what you do when your marriage is falling apart), she meets Anthony O’Hare, a grumpy, divorced journalist who ends up being assigned to write about Laurence. Anthony has his own baggage: a son named Phillip, an ex-wife he’s still annoyed with, and a drinking habit. Basically, he’s a sad boy with a typewriter—how could she not fall in love?

Jennifer and Anthony—soon nicknamed “Boot”—fall hard. Their letters are passionate, heartfelt, and just on the edge of scandalous. Eventually, Anthony asks her to leave Laurence and run away to New York with him, where he has a new job waiting. Jennifer agrees.

But fate isn’t finished messing with them. On the way to meet him, Jennifer gets into a car accident, suffers a head injury, and wakes up with amnesia. Oof. Laurence, opportunist that he is, seizes the moment—telling her they’re happy and in love, and oh by the way, that letter in your purse? Nothing important.

🧠 Memory Loss, Manipulation, and Letters from “B”

Over time, Jennifer starts finding pieces of her old life—letters signed only with the letter “B”, hidden away in pockets, drawers, or books. She knows she’s loved someone else, deeply. But who?

When she asks Laurence, he lies. (Shocker.) He tells her B died in the same accident she was in. Jennifer is devastated. But as her memories slowly return, she realizes the truth: B is Anthony. And he’s very much alive.

They reconnect briefly—four years later, of course. Because Jojo Moyes is not here to give us easy reunions. They fall back into their love, but Jennifer, now a mother, chooses not to leave Laurence. (Sigh.)

Eventually, Jennifer finds out that Anthony never stopped writing to her—she just never received the letters. Laurence had been intercepting and hiding them, because of course he had. Jennifer finally decides to leave.

🌍 The Wild Congo (Or Not)

Jennifer tracks down Anthony’s boss, Don, who tells her Anthony is in Congo reporting on the war. So she does what any woman in love would do: packs a bag, grabs her kid, and tries to go to Congo via Kenya. As one does.

But when she gets there, she finds out no journalists are there anymore. She’s missed her chance. She returns home, devastated. She won’t see Anthony again for decades.

Laurence, the human speed bump, dies years later from lung cancer. Cue tiny celebration.

📰 Part Two: Ellie + the Letters | London, 2003

Flash forward to the early 2000s. Ellie Haworth, a journalist at the very same newspaper Anthony used to work for, is barely keeping her life together. She’s having an affair with a married man named John, her editor is breathing down her neck, and she’s generally spiraling.

Then—serendipity! Ellie finds one of Jennifer and Anthony’s old letters in the archive. She’s hooked.

She pitches a story about this decades-old love affair and goes full research mode. She reaches out to a man named Phillip O’Hare (remember him?), who confirms his dad is indeed Anthony O’Hare—now working quietly in the newspaper library for the last 40 years. Yep. Forty years. Talk about pining.

📬 Truths, Breakups, and Full Circles

Ellie breaks up with John, who (in a twist of poetic justice) gets caught red-handed when his actual wife shows up to confront Ellie. Meanwhile, her co-worker Rory (adorably judgmental but with a heart of gold) is clearly smitten and wants better for her. #TeamRory

She tracks down Jennifer, who confirms everything. Ellie returns the letters to Anthony and tells him that Jennifer still loves him.

And in the most emotionally satisfying twist: Anthony writes Jennifer one last letter.

They agree to meet—at the same place they were supposed to meet all those years ago, before the accident. There’s no grand finale kiss, no insta-love reunion. But there’s hope. There’s forgiveness. There’s a door opened, finally, to the love they were always meant to have.

💌 Final Thoughts

This book made me feel like I had been wrapped in a cashmere blanket and handed a vintage love letter sealed with wax. It’s that cozy, classic kind of romantic. The writing is beautiful, the dual timelines work seamlessly, and Moyes captures the ache of missed chances so well it hurts.

If you’re a fan of:

  • ✨ Timeless romances

  • ✉️ Secret love letters

  • 💔 Bittersweet endings with a hopeful spark

  • 📚 Historical-meets-modern storytelling

…then this one’s a must.

🛒 Buy The Last Letter from Your Lover:

💕 More Books Like This:

  • Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – For more of that emotional rollercoaster she does so well.

  • The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo – Lovers whose paths almost, almost align.

  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Hollywood glamour, secret letters, and heartbreak.

  • One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Torn between the past and the present.

Have you read this one?
Did you cry? Did you yell at Laurence through the pages like I did?
Drop your favorite swoony quote or secret love story below. 💬💘

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