Review : Don't Fence Me In

Lizzie's father had died on the beach of Normandy, her mother she was sure, had died from a broken heart from the loss of her husband, and her brother died in the Korean war. She refused to fall for a man in the service. Until she met her brother's best friend Jeremy, the man who carried that final last letter home to her.

Jeremy is a quiet man, and feels a deep guilt because of Sebastian's death. A death that was only a matter of chance on that day, but to Jeremy, it was his fault.

Through letters back and forth, she'd learned about Jeremy through her brother's eyes, and upon meeting, felt a deeper affection for him because they both had memories of her brother.

This is a very poignant, yet unfortunately short story. I had tears in my eyes nearly from the first page at the amount of emotion and perserverance that showed not only through Lizzie's character, but even through the nearly silent Jeremy. Since her own vow was not to become attached to or involved with a man in the service, her only hope was to keep him company through her letters, silently praying his name never showed up on the casualty lists.

I'm not familiar with the 1950's as an era, but I could easily see the time through Ms. Arkins' words. I just wish it had been longer, giving more time for the character relationship to have more grounding, although the letters and their importance of the era for communication were a nice touch.

A sound 4.0/5