The Suicide Letters of Jack Monroe

The Suicide Letters of Jack Monroe by Mary Maurice is a story comprised of letters sent back and forth to each other by two people. The first is Jack Monroe; he is a middle-aged man who had an accident at his last factory job. Since then, he has had the freedom and opportunity to venture out into the world and to do more of what makes him happy; so what he decides to do with his life is write suicide letters for people contemplating the act of committing suicide for whatever reason. Jack has no problem with suicide, as long as it is done for the right reason. With a rough past to look back on, Jack knows the importance of letting people into your thoughts for your actions and why you might feel that you need to leave this life so abruptly. The correspondent with Jack is Susan Jordan. Susan is Jack’s latest client, who contacted him when he was still living in Michigan, and she in Santa Fe. Jack felt a connection to her and felt the need to come meet her to try to help her with her problem. The letters that make up the rest of the story between Jack and Susan show their reliance on each other, with both characters having issues they are trying to work through themselves. Mental health plays a large role in the story between both characters as they try to function in their daily lives. Plot twists intertwine themselves throughout the story to make you question yourself while reading.

The Suicide Letters of Jack Monroe was quite unlike most books I’ve read. I had previously read another book in all-letter format, but this one was much more in the thriller category and unique to itself. While reading this book, I did feel like part of the storyline felt repetitive, but after finishing the story, I now understand the importance of what was discussed and how it played into the overall storyline. Mental illness and suicide are topics that are very much talked about these days, so the fact that these are the main topics in this book prove it to be very relevant and very realistic. The statistics show 45.5 million American adults, or 18.2 percent of the adult population, suffers from some form of mental illness. Suicide is currently the tenth leading cause of death, with 47,173 Americans having died by suicide in 2017. As stated, mental illness is a big concern among Americans and should be addressed as such with the proper attention given. That being said, this book should be on everyone’s radar to read soon!