Letters once told a vibrant story of a life well-lived. Now that digital formats have taken over, we have sadly lost a valuable form of communicating with others, of telling our stories and recording the times in which we live. I enjoy reading through old letters. They were a means of connection in an era when telephone and telegraph connections were costly and not always available and certainly an era with no internet. Elmer and Virginia were from that era: World War II and beyond. Their letters were a means to keep in touch, to carry on a lively conversation, to tell a story, and to profess their ongoing love for one another. The letters are tender, touching, sometimes sad, and sometimes funny. Ultimately, however, these letters are a story – a history of a time long gone.

John M. Odell has collected the letters exchanged between his parents during the difficult, frightening, and definitely turbulent years of the Depression followed by World War II. Elmer spent the war years overseas as a fighter pilot. After 60 missions, an injury sent him stateside and the romance that began through correspondence developed into a lifetime commitment to each other. Odell’s book, Elmer & Virginia: A World War II Romance in Letters, is a selection of his parents’ letters that remained tucked in the back of a closet, undisturbed for years. Each letter is well constructed and a pleasure to read. The stories these letters share will have the reader thinking back nostalgically to a bygone era when letters were important. These letters are a wonderful historical recollection of this era as well as being enjoyable to read. Accompanied by photographs and articles from the period, this is a great addition to the history of life on both sides of the ocean during World War II.

Elmer & Virginia: A World War II Romance in Letters is a work of non-fiction in the memoir subgenre. It is suitable for the general reading audience and was compiled and edited by John M. Odell, with the letters included written by the titular Elmer Odell and Virginia Schill. The book contains a sampling of the hundreds of letters exchanged by Elmer & Virginia during the Second World War, giving insight into their relationship and the lives that ordinary people were living during an extraordinary period of world history. With Elmer in the Air Force and Virginia writing for the local paper during this period, the two lovers have a fascinating insight to give on the reality of life during World War II.

This book is a beautiful tribute to two people who are, at once, quite ordinary citizens in their daily lives and at the same time totally extraordinary in their ability to observe and discuss the world around them, as well as their love for each other. Throughout the war, each of them was on a distinctive journey that let them experience the two sides of the war effort: one of them at the battle front, flying combat missions over Europe in a struggle against tyranny, the other reporting on life on the home front to raise morale and celebrate the contributions of those not able to enter the combat zone. John M. Odell has done an excellent job in curating the many letters that the two lovers sent each other in order to form a cohesive narrative spanning the war. Elmer & Virginia is a resounding celebration of the real people who lived through a dangerous and incredible period of history.