Postcards from Natalie, by Carrie Laben
Read it here in about 30 minutes.
Thinking about why I love it…
Nat has run off with her boyfriend, Keith. She sends postcards to her little sister, Mandy, back home. The reader learns about Nat through these postcards – from her handwriting, and what she does, and doesn’t, say about her new life – in her own voice. When Mandy receives the third postcard, its contents are unsettling (‘I woke up colder than I’ve ever been‘), hinting that something terrible has happened to Nat. Further postcards build on that.
The thing about postcards is they’re usually sent by people who are travelling, so there’s no return address to reply to – communication being one-way means Mandy has no way to confirm her mounting fears for Nat’s safety. Also, because Nat only sends the postcards sporadically, and they’re sometimes intercepted by the girls’ mother, Mandy is forced to wait for further news – the storyline spans over a year of Mandy’s life. Both of these factors effectively build tension, while Mandy, forever waiting, continues to exist in an increasingly isolated limbo.
Ultimately, I love how the postcards allow two separate stories to be told in one, stories of characters who love each other but can’t respond to each other. I think this makes the ending all the more moving.
