At 26, Cassie has a loft apartment in downtown Cincinnati where she lives with her cat and is within walking distance of her job and favorite bar. She leads a life of mediocrity in a family of high achievers. The self proclaimed outsider, Cassie continually tries to push aside the resentment and bitterness that she feels towards her older siblings and parents. They all live with a sense of purpose and fulfillment that Cassie finds elusive and fleeting, feeding her insecurities. She is also indignant of how they judge her when she has a couple glasses of wine or more. Cassie may not be as perfect as her siblings, but she definitely doesn't believe she has a drinking problem like everyone, including her ex-boyfriend, says she does. To the contrary, Cassie believes she's got everything under control.
However, when tragedy strikes her family, Cassie begins spiraling downward and tries escape from her new reality. She cuts ties and distances herself from the ideal of perfection she sees in her family that she knows she'll never reach.
Left heartbroken by their own new reality and Cassie's self-exile, her parents begin to realize that they should have let Cassie see the broken parts of their past and resolve to try to help their daughter. In a series of letters, Cassie's parents piece together their struggles and reveal how they had to reach their own rock bottom before they found themselves as she knew them.
As Cassie reaches her own rock bottom and each letter goes unanswered, however, they wonder if they waited too long to open up and if their family can be healed.
Genre: General Fiction
However, when tragedy strikes her family, Cassie begins spiraling downward and tries escape from her new reality. She cuts ties and distances herself from the ideal of perfection she sees in her family that she knows she'll never reach.
Left heartbroken by their own new reality and Cassie's self-exile, her parents begin to realize that they should have let Cassie see the broken parts of their past and resolve to try to help their daughter. In a series of letters, Cassie's parents piece together their struggles and reveal how they had to reach their own rock bottom before they found themselves as she knew them.
As Cassie reaches her own rock bottom and each letter goes unanswered, however, they wonder if they waited too long to open up and if their family can be healed.
Genre: General Fiction
Used availability for D M Diehlman's Past the Letters