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Letters to Rosy by C. Ellene Bartlett By Melissa J Wantuck  |
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Letters to Rosy by C. Ellene Bartlett (Dog Ear, 2008) is a little known novel self-published a year ago by a first time writer. It is a slowly unfolding mystery full of long-held secrets, coincidences, and a larger history left untold that would better explain the end results.
Rene DuBois is in the twilight years of her life when her conscience begins to urge her to unburden it. A lifetime of secrets begs to be released and a troubled Rene feels the only person she knows who could help her is a dear old friend from her youth, Rosalee Payton. The two women grew up together in the small town of Bartsville, Georgia. After high school, their paths went in different directions. Rene ended up living in Germany while Rosy still remained in Georgia, not far from Bartsville. Rene resumes their relationship with a letter to her friend forty years since they last saw each other. Rosy responds and the two correspond for over a year, slowly revealing secrets they both possess, becoming each other’s confessor.
A cast of characters begins the book and is a good aide to keep track of the many different characters introduced in this short novel. But the first two characters introduced in the prologue, Rene and Rosy, are left out of the cast list. The reason for that eventually becomes apparent but the revelation reveals a major flaw in the author’s story: when the story ends, a whole new group of questions are raised and never answered.
Poor character development plagues Letters to Rosy. Most of the characters receive a quick introduction and a brief back story. Minor characters don’t need a full biography but any character with a larger role needs to be firmly rooted into the story. Snippets of history are referred to as relevant to a character’s feelings and actions and much of that history is never revealed, particularly the history of the friendship between Rene, Rosy and Mendy. More back story is needed for most of the main characters and less for minor characters. An example of the imbalance can be seen in the homeless “genius” who makes one appearance in the story. He has better character development than either of the Warren brothers who play a major role in the entire story.
Another problem with the poor character development is seen with the first impressions the author creates when she introduces a character. That first impression comes into conflict with their later actions in the book. The biggest one is Ken Mitchell. He’s the first character on the cast list and is introduced as the main catalyst that gets Rene telling her story. He’s made out to be a villain but a reader will waste their time trying to figure out throughout the rest of the book when his dark side will appear because he’s otherwise portrayed positively. Sudden changes of emotions contradict other established characters’ thoughts and actions as well.
Letters to Rosy has heart but it needs to be vetted in order to string together the loose aspects of the story and form a linear plot supported by a well-developed cast of characters.
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