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The Lost Letters of William Woolf

The most uplifting and charming debut of the year

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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen, read by Helen Cullen and Rupert Penry Jones.

Lost letters have only one hope for survival . . .

Inside the Dead Letters Depot in East London, William Woolf is one of thirty letter detectives who spend their days solving mysteries: Missing postcodes, illegible handwriting, rain-smudged ink, lost address labels, torn packages, forgotten street names - they are all the culprits of missed birthdays, broken hearts, unheard confessions, pointless accusations, unpaid bills and unanswered prayers.

When William discovers letters addressed simplyto 'My Great Love' his work takes on new meaning. Written by a woman to a soulmate she hasn't met yet, the missives stir William in ways he didn't know were possible, and soon he begins to wonder: Could he be her great love?

William must follow the clues in Winter's letters to solve his most important mystery yet: the human heart.

 Clean & Wholesome Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Romantic Comedy Women's Fiction Heartfelt

Critic reviews

If you liked Harold Fry and Me Before You, you will love Helen Cullen's nostalgic debut. With its themes of love, romance and frustrated hopes, this life-affirming book will draw you in and keep you there
Enchanting, intriguing, deeply moving. The Lost Letters of William Woolf concerns itself as much with lost love as it does with lost letters
Helen Cullen's The Lost Letters of William Woolf is a lovely novel. I found myself totally transported into William's poignant and beguiling world of lost opportunities and love
A beautifully written story
Soul-searching . . . a must-read
A charming romantic caper. William Woolf, a thirty-something Englishman working in the dead letters depot of London, is the latest in a tribe of unlikely heroes. Delightful
The Must-Read
A fantastic debut about the vital importance of the written word. Watch The Lost Letters of William Woolf become a big hit
Cullen presents readers with the mundane reality of "happily ever" after and how real life can undermine the greatest of romances. The novel is realistic without being grim and offers hope for change and transformation
Is it love or fantasy which is tormenting him? An original, refreshing novel about lost love and whether the grass is greener on the other side
All stars
Most relevant
Loved this and it made me wonder what happens to lost letters received by the Royal Mail . Not sure about the ending but I dont want to give too much away.

Fascinating concept

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The characters are captivating and a great insight into people’s concepts of happiness, contentment, dreams, ambition :)

Loved the storyline

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A lovely book and a lovely listen. If you love London and Dublin you will especially enjoy it.

Lovely book and listen.

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My audiobook listen was a real pleasure: I stole time during day & night, in the car and even (sshhhh) at work.
The narrators were excellent & walked me through such a lovely story.
William & Claire proved to be an interesting couple (that William likes his bread buttered on both sides). Winter was magic.
Congratulations to Helen Cullen for taking me on a compelling journey.
A great listen for all audio-fans & a great read too.

Stamp of Approval for Lost Letters’

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... the part that most interested me.

William Woolf (excellent writer name) is a stalled author, working in a 'dead letter' office, a department of the Post Office that deals with letters it cannot deliver without further investigation. Missing addresses, illegible names, God... William's job is to find the recipients if at all possible. All the while while struggling to continue to connect with the wife who considers his early potential wasted.

I loved the sections where William looked into letters, addresses, found the senders' receiver. There were some moving stories, it was rather satisfying. But I wasn't keen on William and Claire, especially as their marriage suffers. The relationship didn't really interest me. And neither, really, did the letter William finds, from an unknown Irish woman with whom Mr Woolf begins to develop feelings.

I got to the end but would have liked the focus to remain more on Woolf's work, especially as I had to rewind the last few minutes a couple of times to try to work out what had happened - it isn't obvious.

Letters always work well on audiobook, and the third person (mostly focused on William) was pretty easy to follow. Penry-Jones was a good choice for William, quiet and calm and quite quintessentially English, well-spoken and academic.

Disappointed that I wasn't able to like this more.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

Lovely concept, but moved away from...

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