This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
I am a self published author who has released 5 books to date. I have used a long war with depression and personality disorder to find my passions for writing. I hope to continue the journey of improving my craft and myself.
Reviewed by Sarah Stuart for Readers' Favorite
Letters From a Broken Man comprises fifteen messages before the denouement. The first “from” and the remainder “a letter to” and the recipients vary from God to “the Monster”. The letters are presented as poetry, rhyming mainly, but without the constraints of a traditional form. Rule-breakers are not truly freestyle, and they are expressive because of that, not despite it. I was intrigued from the beginning. What were the secrets Michael Trudeau was prepared to share in the poems that follow the title verse, which asks “must I pick up a pen and drain myself again”? This man is no prodigal son; he is a parasite who pushes away friends, a wannabe believer who fears his epistle to God will be “returned to sender”. Talent thrives in Michael Trudeau’s Letters From a Broken Man.
In Letter to Myself, Michael Trudeau is reflected in a cracked mirror, a “condemned slave and acquitted killer”. “Life” is a wasteland that won’t release him, “Addiction” a prowling lion, “Unforgiven”: forgiveness is not for the guilt driven, “Fear” is a pesky resident. Poem 16, the last in the collection, is not a letter, but a long dismissal of hope for love, success, and happiness. I returned to “You”, where it is us, his readers, who intrude, “stalking creeper” – this is not true! There is a gripping beauty in the words that held me captivated. No poetry lover can fail to be moved reading Letters From a Broken Man by Michael Trudeau, and nobody in the grip of depression should miss its revealing message; you are not alone.
