AustLit

'In an exuberant essay anticipating the publication of Eleven Letters to You, the critic and editor Helen Elliott describes the deep pleasure of working on the book: ‘The satisfaction of writing this book, of making it as good as I can has been unlike anything I’ve ever known. A necessary joy, the deepest new, an entirely selfish pleasure. A small and ravishing bomb inside me’ (The Monthly, May 2023). After this introduction, it was a relief to read the book and find that it doesn’t disappoint. The exuberance of the writing process filters through to the finished pages, populated with ostensibly ‘ordinary people’ – Elliott’s highly provisional term – who have made a deep impression on the writer.' (Introduction)   

'At the start of Eleven Letters to You, Helen Elliott states: “I am not the centre of this book, but the hinge holding it together.” This book memorialises 11 endearing, emotional and often epiphanous letters to former neighbours and teachers, each of whom left an indelible imprint on her.'