Pagoda Dreamer

The book is Pagoda Dreamer and the author is Judith March Davis. Davis has written a biography of her mother Dorothy Rowe, based on her own recollections but largely aided by the letters that Dorothy wrote to her sister throughout her lifetime. The sister, known as Lurry, saved these lettters and presented them to Davis after her mother had died. The story begins in China, then moves to the states and then to Michigan, where a summer home in Pentwater plays a large part of the story. The book is a chronicle of a remarkable life; it also made this reader nostalgic for a time when people sat down and hand wrote long letters, sharing their feelings and perhaps administering a form of self therapy.
The story reminds me that I too have a box of letters. They were written by my younger self to my mother, when I was off adventuring in the world. I discovered them after my mother died, but for some reason I have never taken the time to read them. I wonder why??