Letters to Amelia

Grace Porter is reeling from grief after her partner of seven years unexpectedly leaves. Amidst her heartache, the 30-year-old library tech is tasked with reading newly discovered letters that Amelia Earhart wrote to her lover, Gene Vidal. She becomes captivated by the famous pilot who disappeared in 1937. Letter by letter, she understands more about the aviation hero while piecing her own life back together.

When Grace discovers she is pregnant, her life becomes more intertwined with the mysterious pilot and Grace begins to write her own letters to Amelia. While navigating her third trimester, amidst new conspiracy theories about Amelia's disappearance, the search for her remains, and the impending publication of her private letters, Grace goes on a pilgrimage of her own.

Letters to Amelia is a stunning, contemporary epistolary novel from the creator of the internationally acclaimed Love Lettering Project. It underscores the power of reading and writing letters for both connection and self-discovery, and celebrates the unwritten, undocumented parts of our lives.

Above all, Letters to Amelia is a story of the essential need for connection-and our universal ability to find hope in the face of fear.

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Pub date: Sept. 7, 2021
Letters to Amelia is available NOW through Book*hug (here!) and wherever books are sold.

At your local indie bookstore and at:
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Bookshop.org
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Amazon

The audiobook, read by Emily Nixon, is available now at Audible, Scribd, Book*hug, and your local library

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A tender portrait of heartbreak and a thoughtful ode to new motherhood. Letters to Amelia is an endorsement of finding our own ways to heal, and a celebration of that big, messy, wonderful journey of coming into one's own. Charming and beautifully rendered, this is a big-hearted hopeful novel, full of life and love."

-Stacey May Fowles, author of Baseball Life Advice: Loving the Game that Saved Me

Brimming over with Lindsay Zier-Vogel's obvious love for the story of Amelia Earhart, Letters to Amelia is a wonderful novel about flight and passion, about love-letters and reaching out; a novel about how we never know quite what's coming next, but still keep launching ourselves into the blue tomorrow."

-Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13

Letters to Amelia invites us to hold our heroines close and to take heart - it is gentle and joyous, full of tenderness, alive and sturdy with hope."

-Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces and The Winter Vault

When we think of Amelia Earhart, we think enigmatic adventurer and feminist pioneer-and, of course, of her mysterious disappearance. But in Letters to Amelia, we meet a different Amelia Earhart, as seen through the eyes of Grace, the novel's protagonist, a young library tech tasked with reading her letters: an Amelia who is funny, charming, joyful, sad, and most of all, full of life. Zier-Vogel writes with uncanny empathy about heartbreak, friendship, motherhood, and the common threads that connect women across time, geography, and even between earth and sky. Letters to Amelia is a gorgeous, big-hearted debut that will make you feel like you are flying, and Zier-Vogel is a writer whose career is about to soar."

-Amy Jones, author of Every Little Piece of Me

PRESS

Zier-Vogel’s imagined lovers’ correspondence connects the real Earhart not only to a broken-hearted library tech but also to us and our landscape, bringing to life this singular woman’s brave, soaring spirit.
— The Toronto Star

This could be the surprise debut novel of the year
— NOW magazine

The novel’s epistolary form is a strong stylistic device…. That the letters are meant not for Amelia but for Grace is a technique that builds the structure of the story, one letter at a time, with deeply authentic voices.
—The Puritan

An understated literary work with a historical underpinning, Letters to Amelia celebrates singular desires and pays homage to intimacy in the face of social scrutiny.
— Foreword Reviews

An engaging story full of thoughtfully drawn characters and lively dialogue...a wonderfully readable book.”
—Anne Thériault, Quill & Quire

Zier-Vogel’s writing transcends the boundaries of time while remaining firmly rooted in the Canadian cultural landscape.
— Room magazine

[A] multi-dimensional account of the life of a woman who remains not only a feminist icon but a figure of undefined mystique. I’m sure Amelia herself would be pleased.
— Miramachi Reader

Zier-Vogel refigures intimacy by displacing it from romantic relationships and situating it in the friendships women share with each other
— Canadian Literature

A staggering, brilliant debut.
— Open Book

Alumna Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s debut novel combines the art and love of letter writing, U of T and Amelia Earhart
— University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science News

Letters to Amelia: Lindsay Zier-Vogel’s debut novel features an aviation pioneer – and U of T
— University of Toronto Alumni  and University of Toronto News

A gorgeous story of love, family bonds, and close friendships.
— Daily Hive

This book is the perfect read to combat the lockdown blues and a reminder to find your passion, no matter your circumstances.
— Cloudlake Literary

Letters to Amelia made for a charming read… This was an absolutely lovely, lighthearted, and beautifully written story.
— Avocado Diaries

Its depth and ingenuity will make you marvel that it’s a debut work.
— Stir magazine

Featured in:

#2 on the Canadian Independently Published Bestsellers List: September 2021

Reviewed for Postmedia and syndicated in the Vancouver Sun, Montreal Gazette, Regina Leader Post, Windsor Star, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, and Edmonton Journal

Featured as:

Radio interviews:

  • CBC Radio's Here & Now with Gill Deacon
  • CBC Radio's Weekend AM with Paula Gale
  • CIUT's HOWL

Podcast interviews: