Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey

Dear Thief

by Samantha Harvey

**FROM THE AUTHOR OF 2024 BOOKER PRIZE WINNING ORBITAL**

Shortlisted for the 2015 James Tait Black Memorial Prize
Longlisted for the 2015 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction
Longlisted for the 2015 Jerwood Prize

In the middle of a winter’s night, a woman wraps herself in a blanket, picks up a pen and starts writing to an estranged friend. In answer to a question you asked a long time ago, she writes, and so begins a letter that calls up a shared past both women have preferred to forget.

Without knowing if her friend, Butterfly, is even alive or dead, she writes night after night – a letter of friendship that turns into something more revealing and recriminating. By turns a belated outlet of rage, an act of self-defence, and an offering of forgiveness, the letter revisits a betrayal that happened a decade and a half before, and dissects what is left of a friendship caught between the forces of hatred and love.

Reviewed by Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews on

3 of 5 stars

Share
For my review, I written each section in "tweets" meaning they are (for the most part) 140 characters.

Note: the breaks in-between represent separate tweets.

Fond of:

Liked that it was told anonymously

Enjoyed reading the growth of our storyteller and that life goes on even after someone leaves us.

Lyrical, beautiful writing

Original letter format -- a lost art.

Not fond of:

Dear Thief felt a little disjointed.

An interesting plot but did have to go back to refresh my memory.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I thought it was a decent read with beautiful writing

It did not always hold my attention

But was still a fascinating concept.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 25 August, 2014: Finished reading
  • 25 August, 2014: Reviewed