The letters in Benicia and Letters of Love read so authentically they could be about any town in the United States. We all know people, who have found love or lost love, and feel a connection, positive or negative, to the city where the experience took place. James Garrett chose to use the city of Benicia, where he grew up and currently resides, as the focus of his first published novel.
The novel is a collection of letters written in response to a newspaper advertisement inviting individuals to share the stories of their love. The love is written of in many ways: same race or mixed race, male/female, male/male, female/female, and young/old, to name a few. Each letter has its own style and approach in describing a facet of the emotion called love. Every letter will draw you in and hold your attention to the end, as its personal story unfolds.
James Garrett writes about things he knows. Benicia has been his home for sixty years. As a teenager, he listened to his elderly father and other men talk of their escapades as young men. During four years in the US Navy and twenty-seven years as a classroom teacher, James was an observer of people of all ages. His adeptness at communicating his observations makes Benicia and Letters of Love an emotionally, compelling collection.