Epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters or other documents. The word epistolary comes from the Latin form of the Greek word ἐπιστολή (epistolē), meaning a letter (see epistle). The epistolary form of writing can make the story seem more realistic to the reader. This is because it is more personal, and is more like the workings of real life.
Some examples of modern epistolary novels are:
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) by Anne Brontë is written in the form of a letter from the narrator to his friend.
- Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker uses not only letters and diaries, but also newspaper accounts.
- The Screwtape Letters (1942) by C. S. Lewis
- Carrie (1974) by Stephen King is written in an epistolary structure, through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007) by Jeff Kinney is written in the form a diary, including hand-written notes and cartoon drawings
Epistolary Novel Media
Young Werther's love interest hands over the fatal instrument for his suicide, the climax of Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther
Title page of Aphra Behn's early epistolary novel, Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (1684)
Title page of the second edition of Samuel Richardson's epistolary novel Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), a bestselling early epistolary novel
