Title: Letters To Erik: The Ghost's Love Story
Author: An Wallace
Date Published: January 2008
Series: Phantom of the Opera
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: C
ISBN:978-1-4327-1354-6

I've been on a Phantom of the Opera kick recently. I began with a reread of Leroux's novel and then Susan Kay's in December. From there I branched into new territory, reading two new books based on the story. One was all right, one was dismal and made me hesitant to pick up the last of the books I'd come by. This dismal one was the reason I went on my Lecter re-read binge, needing to cleanse my mind.

Letters To Erik spans quite a few years after the events in the Opera House. We find Christine in Sweden after the events of Phantom of the Opera and she has grown up some, no longer the rather naïve chorus girl. During this time, Christine writes letters to Erik, presuming he's deceased.

She, of course, comes to find out that he, in fact, survived and the rest of the book establishes their relationship and courtship.

Letters To Erik was a decent read. There were times I found the characterizations a little off, but bearing in mind years had passed since Leroux's novel and the timetable in it I was able to look past these inconsistencies.

It was a quick read, I finished it in a little over twenty-four hours, so the story kept me interested enough that I continued turning the page.

One thing I feel the need to comment on based on all three of these new books is the treatment of Raoul.

I'm not particularly fond of Raoul - as far as his being with Christine goes - but I don't dislike the man. It just seems, however, that writer's can't seem to produce a story set after Christine leaves with Raoul where she returns to Erik without turning Raoul into something that he wasn’t depicted as. He's either cruel or hurtful or so totally unsympathetic the reader is happy to get him out of the story. And while I don't care for the idea of Christine choosing Raoul over Erik, I do believe that Raoul would treat her kindly.

Overall, while I'm not keeping this book I did enjoy it well enough. It wasn't great, but it was interesting to read someone's take on what might have happened. And the format of letter writing was an imaginative one.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com