September 18, 2025 • 45 mins
Ever wonder if passionate love can withstand decades of separation? "The Last Letter from Your Lover" takes us on a journey through time where handwritten correspondence becomes the bridge between star-crossed lovers.
In 1960s London, Jennifer Stirling wakes in a hospital bed with no memory of her life or wealthy husband. When she discovers hidden love letters signed only with the letter "B," she unravels a past filled with forbidden passion and missed opportunities. These letters reveal plans to leave her husband—plans derailed by a tragic accident. Fast forward to present day, where journalist Ellie Haworth stumbles upon these same letters while researching in newspaper archives. As she becomes captivated by this mysterious romance, Ellie's own complicated love life begins to mirror Jennifer's in unexpected ways.
The novel and film adaptation take surprisingly different approaches to this dual-timeline romance. While Jojo Moyes' book unfolds chronologically with rich detail about Jennifer's recovery and detective work, the 2021 film starring Shailene Woodley and Felicity Jones interweaves the timelines from the beginning. The book delves deeper into the societal constraints of being a woman in the 1960s, illustrating why Jennifer remained trapped in her marriage, while adding fascinating subplots completely absent from the film—including corporate scandal and deliberate deception that kept the lovers apart.
Both versions culminate in the poignant possibility of reunion after forty years apart, proving that true connection transcends time. But which telling resonates more deeply? Listen as I break down the significant changes between page and screen, examine how each medium portrays these parallel love stories, and determine whether this is a rare case where the adaptation stands alongside its source material or another example of how books capture emotional complexity that films simply cannot match.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set
out to answer the age-oldquestion is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Yuvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York City
, and today I will be discussingthe Last Letter from your Lover
by Jojo Moyes and its 2021adaptation the Last Letter from
your Lover, starring ShaileneWoodley, callum Turner, joe
(00:22):
Alwyn and Felicity Jones.
Hi everyone, I am so exhaustedbecause I just got off set from
working on a short film and itwas great, but it's a very
emotionally taxing role and Ireally felt it.
So I'm exhausted, but I'mexcited to be here and I really
(00:44):
want to make sure that I havethis episode out and ready to go
by the day it comes out.
So that is what I'm doing I'mhere, I'm excited, I'm ready and
, yeah, let's get started.
So the Last Letter from yourLover by Jojo Moyes was first
published in 2011.
The book starts off in 1960.
(01:04):
Jennifer Sterling wakes up fromthe hospital and she's not
really sure what she's doingthere.
She can't remember anything.
Little by little, she's toldsmall details, like she was in a
car accident.
She doesn't remember anyone,not even her husband, and, to be
honest, she doesn't really knowmuch about herself.
(01:24):
She starts trying to go back toher normal life, but she's
having a difficult time about it.
That's until she finds a letter.
This letter is extremelypassionate and is asking her to
leave her husband, but she hasno idea who sent it, other than
it's signed by the letter B.
We skip forward to 2003 whereour protagonist of 2003,
(01:50):
journalist Ellie Hayworth,discovers a mysterious love
letter amongst the newspaperarchives.
She reads it and she becomesobsessed with finding out who
wrote this letter and she hopesshe can find.
She can write a compellingstory that'll save her
journalistic career as it'sslowly unraveling.
(02:10):
She's also drawn by the lettersand the way they're written and
the passion clearly behind themas she's trying to figure out
what's going on in her own lovelife.
As Ellie digs deeper into theromance of these letters, she
starts discovering things aboutherself and her own romance.
The 2021 adaptation the LastLetter from your Lover follows
(02:36):
two stories one set in the past,one set in the present.
One storyline follows ajournalist determined to
discover the secret of aforbidden love affair detailed
in some letters written in the1960s.
So it sounds like it's a prettyfaithful adaptation, but it's
(02:56):
actually quite different.
There's quite a few differencesand, yeah, this is not as
faithful as it may seem, solet's get into it.
And I do want to say, becausethis is very different, there
will be spoilers on both, butmost of the spoilers will be for
the book.
So, if you're interested inreading this book, read it first
(03:16):
and then come back and listento this episode, and I look
forward to welcoming you backwhenever you're ready to listen
to this.
But, yes, most of the spoilerswill be coming for the book.
I mean, there are spoilers forboth, but the main spoilers are
coming from the book, becausethere are just some things that
I have to bring up that don'thappen in the film, but they
happen in the book.
So the first big thing that'smajorly different about the two
(03:40):
is that the book is told inchronological order.
We start off in the 1960s.
We're told the story ofJennifer Sterling, and she
starts off waking up in thehospital and then it jumps.
Well, it's chronological andthen it takes place all in the
60s.
We do jump back and forthbetween Jennifer waking up in
(04:03):
the hospital and gettingsnatches of what led her into
being in this car accident andthen back to her trying to
figure out the details of herpast.
And yes, but it's told inchronological order in the sense
that, like part one of the bookis all takes place in the 1960s
and then part two of the book,all except for one chapter when
(04:24):
a bombshell is revealed.
We travel quickly back to 1960to find out the details of this
bombshell and then we continuein chronological order.
So that's what I mean bychronological order, because the
film jumps back and forthconsistently between, like, we
get a glimpse of the 1960sbefore we jump back to the
(04:45):
present day and then we jumpback to the 60s.
And obviously the main reasonthe film does that is because
you can get away with I've saidthis before you can get away
with introducing a characterlate in the game.
And I will say, based on a lotof reviews I've seen on this
book, even with this book itmight be introduced a little bit
(05:05):
too late, because a lot ofpeople are just not very
interested in Ellie's story andthey don't really like Ellie,
but they really, really intoJennifer's story and they want
to know all of Jennifer's story.
So it's possible to do it inbooks, but the payoff might
still not be the same, but infilm you definitely, definitely,
definitely have to introduce us, since it's a visual medium.
(05:28):
You have to introduce us to allthe characters that you want us
to root for from the get-go.
So, yes, you can start off in1960 and then fast forward, time
forward, jump forward in timewhy can I not speak?
Jump forward in time tointroduce, like the new
characters.
But you still have to do thatrelatively early on, like you
can't spend the first half ofthe film just introducing us to
(05:51):
Jennifer and her story and thenswitch midway to Ellie's story,
the way it does in the book,because we've spent this whole
entire journey in the filmgetting to know Jennifer and her
circumstances and it would justbe way too jarring to introduce
us to a whole new storylinefilm storyline.
So, yeah, it's important tointroduce the people you want us
(06:14):
to root for right from thebeginning.
And I'm sure we've all seenthose films in which, like a
character is introduced out ofnowhere and you're like, why do
I care what you have to say?
I have no idea who you are andI'm not talking about like
someone who's there for like aone line gag, you know, like a
character who delivers majorpiece of news, but anyway.
So that is why I believe thathappens in the film and that's I
(06:35):
mean, I'm pretty sure that'swhy the film is told that way.
But yes, the film is toldstrictly through time jumps,
while the book is relatively inchronological order.
So Ellie Hayworth, played byFelicity Jones in the film, we
find out that she has recentlybroken up with her boyfriend and
this was like a very majorbreakup.
(06:56):
So now she's scared of intimacyand she's scared of being in a
committed relationship.
So we find out that she is.
She has one night stands andeven then, like if whoever she
has a one night stand with wakesup the next day in her room,
she's very awkward about thewhole situation.
She's kind of like oh, you'restill here, great, can you leave
(07:21):
now?
Like, just leave now.
So she's, she's doing that,she's having a lot of one-night
stands and she's very, veryscared of being in a committed
relationship once again.
But in the book she's not.
She is in a long-termrelationship with a married man.
So not ideal by any means, butshe's, you know, she's under the
(07:45):
illusion that he's going toleave his wife for her and that
they're going to love a veryhappy life together as soon as
he does that, but he just needsto do it first.
But she's ready and she's readyto move in with him tomorrow if
he asked her to.
So she is in a I don't want tosay a committed relationship,
(08:06):
because you can't really becommitted if you're the only
person committed to it.
But she has been in a long-termrelationship with this one man,
like to the point where she'snot seeing other people and her
friends encourage her to seeother people.
You know her friends are likethis man's never going to leave
you.
So if you insist on continuingto see him, I don't approve of
the fact that you're continuingto see him.
(08:28):
But if you insist on continuingto see this man, like, at least
continue seeing other peopleand have fun, because this man
is sleeping with you and hiswife and he's getting double the
joy and you're kind of justmoping over him when he's not
with you.
So at least see other people.
So yeah, so she's definitelynot afraid of commitment.
(08:48):
In the book, in the film she is.
Jennifer Sterling in the book isfrom the UK, jennifer Sterling
in the film is from the US andI'm not sure if they just made
that choice because they castShailene Woodley because I feel
like she might I'm sure shemight be able to do a British
dialect.
(09:08):
So they could have made thecharacter from the UK and just.
But I don't know, maybe theyreally liked Shailene and wanted
to keep her as being from theUS, just in honor of Shailene.
I don't know, I don't have thereason for that.
But yeah, jennifer Sterling inthe book is from the UK, just
like all the characters are fromthe UK, because Jojo Moyes is a
(09:30):
British writer.
So all the characters areBritish and in the book and in
the film only Jennifer Sterlingplayed by Shailene Woodley is
not.
She's originally from New YorkCity.
So Jennifer Sterling we end updiscovering is she ends up
having an affair, which is whatled her to be in this accident
(09:51):
that causes this amnesia.
So she is running away to bewith him and on her way there
it's raining and they're rushing.
Her friend is rushing to gether there on time and it's
raining heavily, and so there'sa car accident and he dies.
But she survives and ends up inthe hospital with amnesia.
(10:12):
But in the film she kind ofjust decides I'm going to leave
him, this is what I want, andshe packs up and her husband is
at a dinner party and or he'seither, I don't remember.
In the book he's for sure likegonna come pick her up to take
her to the dinner party.
I think in the film he mightalready be there and she's gonna
(10:35):
go meet him over there.
I don't really remember thedetails of that.
That's not really thatimportant.
But in the film, like she justshe decides to leave and she
leaves him before she ends up inthe accident and she kind of
comes to this realization on herown, like what am I doing?
I'm not in, I'm not in lovewith my husband, I'm in love
with this other man and I wantto be with him.
So I'm going to go be with him.
And in the book so Jennifer andher husband are very I don't
(10:59):
remember the husband's name,larry, is it Larry Lawrence?
I don't know.
So I'm just going to call himMr Sterling, but his name is not
important.
Like this man is.
He's important in the book.
He's not really important inthe film.
He's still not important, otherthan the fact that Jennifer
needs to be married, but likehe's really not important in the
film but anyway in the booklike he does play a much larger
role than he does in the film.
(11:20):
But anyway, that's not thepoint.
Jennifer and Mrs Sterling arerich.
They are very, very wealthy,and so they have a housekeeper
by the name of Mrs Cordoza.
And in the book Mrs Cordoza isthe one that convinces Jennifer
to leave.
She notices that, jennifer.
She notices the signs becauseMrs Cordoza, back when she was a
(11:40):
young woman, was also in lovewith the married man and she
regrets not leaving with himwhen the opportunity presented
itself, and so she doesn't wantJennifer to do the same.
So she recognizes the signs, soshe tells Jennifer this story
of regret and convinces Jenniferlike listen, you only have one
life, and if you're not happywith the person you're with,
(12:02):
like, go be with the one that'sactually making you happy, I
will help you leave.
And so Mrs Cordoza actuallyhelps Jennifer pack and stalls
when Mr Sterling shows up Again,this is in the book, so he's
for sure coming to the house topick her up.
So she helps Jennifer pack andJennifer leaves.
And she has a plan to stall MrSterling to hopefully give
(12:26):
Jennifer enough time to get onthe train station, get to the
train station, so by the time heis like you're lying to me and
he goes looking for Jennifer.
She's on the train and on herway to a new life with Boot the
lover.
His name is Anthony, anthonyO'Hare, but she calls him Boot.
I'm just going to call him Bootbecause Anthony O'Hare is.
Let's just go with Boot.
(12:46):
So if you hear me refer to Boot, boot is Jennifer's.
Boot is just so much more funto say too, boot is Jennifer's
lover.
So, yes, so in the book, mrsCardoza, as I said, helps
Jennifer escape.
In the film, jennifer kind ofjust comes to that realization
on her own that she wants to bewith Boot and she heads off to
(13:07):
find him.
So in the book, as I said, inthe film as well, but it's not
as like the book is, it takesits time showing us Jennifer
recovering her memories anddiscovering these letters and
trying to figure out who thislover is.
And, as I said, as she wakes upfrom the hospital, she feels
(13:30):
like a stranger in her own lifebecause she doesn't remember
really who she is, what sheliked, what she was into.
She doesn't know her husband,she feels nothing towards her
husband and she kind of justhopes that it's the amnesia
that's preventing her fromfeeling in connection with her
husband.
And then she discovers thefirst letter from Boop.
(13:52):
She has these hidden all overher house.
So she tries looking for allthe letters from Boop and little
by little she finds them andshe realizes like my husband
doesn't love me, like Boop isthe one that really loves me,
like look at the way he'stalking to me in these letters.
And so once she realizes likeI'm not happy in my marriage I
wasn't happy in my marriage LikeI was looking to leave with
(14:13):
this man she still doesn't knowall the details, they're kind of
foggy, but I mean, based on theletters and how they're written
, she's like I was planning onleaving my husband.
So she goes looking for him andshe just straight up starts
being mean to her husband, likeMr Sterling is, I wouldn't say,
does he love her?
I mean I guess he does.
(14:34):
I mean I don't know if hegenuinely loves her, but he does
have like some you know what?
No, I think at least in thebook he does genuinely love her.
He doesn't love her in the film, but in the book.
I would say he does genuinelylove her at first.
And then once he realizes likethis woman is never, like she
doesn't even know who this loveris, and she'd still rather be
(14:54):
with him, like a man she doesn'tremember, than with me.
So, like F it, that's fine, I'mjust going to start screwing
the help.
So not Mrs Cordoza, hissecretaries, so, anyway.
So, yes, the book takes a lotmore time.
Looking into this, like in thefilm, jennifer comes to this
realization and then, but she'snot like she's trying, she's
(15:18):
putting the pieces together, butshe, like Jennifer in the in
the book, is definitely tryingto be like who is my lover?
Is it this guy?
Is it this guy?
Is it this guy?
And then, like this one guythat's like a work colleague or
something like that for herhusband.
He seems to show a lot ofinterest in her.
So she's like, oh, this has tobe my lover.
(15:39):
And then when he tries to likehave sex with her, she like
actually no, like I feel nothing, nothing, I'm as I'm as dry as
a dried out.
Well, like, this is not mylover.
And so he like gets pissed off.
And mr sterling finds them inthis compromising position and
that's when he reveals like yourlover died, jennifer.
(15:59):
Your lover died the night thatyou tried to leave me.
So like the best thing you cando is just move, like, forget
about him and just focus on ourmarriage.
And Jennifer's like oh wow, Ididn't realize that he died the
night I tried to leave you.
Okay, I will do that, I willfocus on my marriage to you.
And in the film this doesn'thappen Like.
Jennifer is trying to figure outwho her lover is, but it's not
(16:22):
like any man that showsaffection to her.
She's like this is the man.
It's more so like if arestaurant is mentioned in the
letters, she goes to therestaurant to ask around.
If a person is mentioned, shetries to figure out who this
person is so she can ask themabout her lover.
So there's never like Jennifernever has almost has another
(16:42):
affair with another man the wayshe does in the book.
But she is trying to piecetogether who her lover is.
And Mr Sterling, played by JoeAlwyn, finds out that she's
doing that.
She's still looking for herlover.
She finds like the very, verylast letter he sent her, which
is the one that says leave withme, like leave your husband, I'm
going to meet you at the trainstation at this time she finds
(17:04):
that letter in Mr Sterling'sstudy and she confronts her
husband about it and that's whenhe says your lover died, your
lover died, and that's when shefocuses on her marriage.
Four years pass.
So Boo this whole time has beenin New York.
He's a journalist.
So he goes to New York to workas a journalist over there for
(17:24):
four years and then he comesback.
And when he's back so theperson who actually died to
clarify, no, boot did not diewhen he was waiting for her at
the train station, like he saidhe would be the person that died
was a mutual, was a friend ofhis.
So this friend of his worked ata restaurant that they like to
frequent.
So it was a restaurant, likenot a restaurant a bar at the
(17:46):
top.
And then there's like aspeakeasy type thing, except it
wasn't a speakeasy because thistakes place in the 60s and, as
far as I know, prohibitiondidn't exist in the UK.
Prohibition was just a US thing.
I could be wrong about that,but as far as I know,
prohibition was just a US thing,so there was no need for a
speakeasy.
Now, prohibition was just a USthing, so there was no need for
(18:07):
a speakeasy.
But just to give you an idea.
So it's like a bar at the topand then you go down the stairs
and you're at like a club.
So he worked there.
And when she decides to leaveLawrence, she's like running
super, super late and she wantsto be sure she gets to the train
station on time.
So she runs to the restaurantand asks this man for help, like
please give me a ride to thetrain station on time.
So she runs to the restaurantand asks this man for help, like
(18:29):
please give me a ride to thetrain station.
And he's the one that dies inthe accident.
So it's not Boot, it's this man.
And so four years pass and Bootand Jennifer bump into each
other.
So in the film they kind of justbump into each other on the
street and all of Jennifer'smemories come flooding back and
like she takes one look at himand she's like, oh my gosh,
you're my lover.
And like everything comesflooding.
But she gains her memory backLike the amnesia is gone.
(18:51):
So I'm not trying to soundfacetious, like I'm I don't know
how amnesia like where.
I'm sure maybe that's reallyhow amnesia works.
That's just how I'm explainingit.
I realized as I was explainingit that I was like I'm like I
saw a miracle, like I'm nottrying to give it that vibe.
That's just how it came out.
But anyway, this is whathappens when I'm tired, like the
sass comes out, okay, anyway.
(19:12):
So, yes, she and Booth justlike bump into it.
I remember this because I loveChristmas and this takes place
during the Christmas time andlike there's Christmas trees in
the background and they bumpinto each other and the snow is
falling and they see each otherand it all comes flooding back
and it's just the most wonderfultime of the year.
So you know what a time to getyour memories back during the
(19:36):
most wonderful time of the year.
So that's how that happens inthe book.
I think Boo is there to coversomething again for his
newspaper.
So they meet initially becausehe's covering her husband's
business.
So I think this time he'seither invited to the party that
they're having or he's there asa journalist.
(19:57):
I don't remember that exactdetail, but the point is it's
not just a random bump on thestreet, like they're having a
party and he's there and theyrun into each other at this
party and Jennifer's like, oh mygosh, that's him, that's
definitely my lover.
And they reunite at his hoteland in the book and have
(20:18):
passionate sex before she leavesand he's like I'm not going to
wait for you anymore, so like,if you leave, you better be sure
.
And then, as she's leaving, mrsCordoza shows up with
Jennifer's daughter and he'slike, oh, she has a daughter and
so he's trying not to be tooupset, but he's still like you
can come, like you can bringyour daughter, that's fine.
Like, I have a son and I likethe son.
(20:41):
I don't even know why the sonis a thing in the film because,
like this poor son, he's justlike, like boot mentions, oh
yeah, I have a son.
And then we never hear aboutlike and I think he's mentioned
like one more time and then wenever hear about this son again
in the film.
Like this poor child is justlike, yeah, I have a son, it's
fine, and I have you now,jennifer.
(21:02):
So like, why would I need myson?
And in the like in in the book,the son plays a very important
well, not very important role,but he plays a role Like his
wife his ex-wife, I should saywants to get remarried and she
wants Boot to like sign over hisparental rights so that her new
husband can adopt him.
And Boot's like I don't want togive up my parental rights, like
(21:24):
I know I don't see him often,but that's my son and I don't.
I don't see him often, not bychoice, it's because you don't
really let me see him that often.
And she's like okay, I guess,like fine, you can keep your
parental rights, so, and and sheends up dying later of cancer,
like a very, very aggressivecancer that comes on very, very
(21:45):
suddenly and then she dieswithin a few months.
So once she dies, like Booth'sson comes to live with his
father and it's this whole thingwhere Booth has a relationship
with his son from that moment on, and in the film it's like,
like I said, he's mentionedtwice and then we never hear
about this person again.
So I think he's supposed to belike a deadbeat father in the
(22:06):
film.
So it's like, like I said, he'smentioned twice and then we
never hear about this personagain.
So I think he's supposed to belike a deadbeat father in the
film.
So it's like why would jennifertrust you to like with her
daughter?
Like that?
I don't know.
I mean, although that I haveunfortunately heard stories of
that where they're not they'relike deadbeats to their
biological children, but they'relike amazing parents to their
step-step children.
But whatever, that's not thepoint of this story.
(22:28):
I'm going to just keep going on.
Tangents, guys, you're gettingreally, really, really
unfiltered Yuvia today, and Idon't know what it is about my
being tired, but this is whathappens, anyway, moving on, so,
yeah, he's trying not to beupset because it's like, well,
now it's even more.
Like it was difficult for herto leave because of it being the
(22:51):
60s and societal expectations.
Like it was already hard forher to leave when she didn't
have a child.
Now that she has a child, likeit's even harder.
So he's trying not to be tooupset, but he kind of is,
because he really wants to spendhis life with this woman.
So in the film, jenniferSterling, once she finds out
that Boot has been alive andthat Mr Sterling lied to her,
(23:13):
she basically goes up to him andis like I'm staying with you
because we have a daughter, andthat's literally the only reason
.
If you mistreat me in any shape, way or form, I'm out of here.
I'm taking my daughter with meand we're leaving you behind.
So don't even think aboutmistreating me.
And he's like all right, bet,you're a woman in the 1960s,
(23:35):
you're the one that cheated onme, so no matter what you're
going to be seen as anadulteress.
The court is going to alwaysfavor the man who is also not
the adulterer in this situationand full custody will be granted
to me.
So, just, I will treat youhowever the hell I want.
And Jennifer's like not this.
(23:57):
What am I going to do?
You know like yeah, that's agood point, there's nothing I
can do.
I'm a rich woman in the 1960sand divorce is very much looked
down upon, so I'm just going toget up and leave and take my
daughter with me.
And so she takes her daughter,goes straight to Boots Hotel.
The person at the hotel is likehe already checked out.
(24:17):
And then so she goes to thenewspaper office where he works
at and is like can you tell mewhere he?
Can you let him know that I'mhere?
And the newspaper office islike yo, he's already gone, he's
already left to his other, tohis next assignment, he's out of
the country.
And she's like she leaves allher letters at the newspaper
office and is like when you havea chance, please give, give
(24:38):
these to him and let him knowthat I'm looking for him.
He'll know what that means andhe'll come looking for me.
I mean, she doesn't say thatexactly, but that's, I mean,
it's implied.
And so the newspaper office islike, okay, sure, and then they
end up just getting lost in thearchives somewhere.
They're never given to Bootwhen he returns.
So Boot has no idea thatJennifer tried to leave Lawrence
(25:00):
.
I'm pretty sure it's LawrenceLawrence once again to be with
him.
In the book, as I said, I'mpretty sure Mr Sterling has
genuine love and affectiontowards Jennifer.
And then once he realizes likeit's a lost cause, she doesn't
love me, he starts having anaffair with his secretary.
And this secretary is in lovewith him, like she fantasizes
(25:23):
about being with this man in anyshape way that she can be with
him.
And so the first time, likehe's just going through the
motions of just like, likescrewing, and she's like, oh
yeah, he, he loves me.
And so, like the next few times, like for him it's just sex he
needs, he has like desires thathe needs to get them out of his
(25:46):
system.
She's a willing participant,and so he has sex with her, but
there's like not, like it isnothing, it means nothing.
She is just I'm not gonna bevulgar she is just there for him
to have sex with.
And so he, a new woman, is hiredand this person he actually has
a connection to like, not onlya physical connection but like
(26:08):
an emotional connection.
So she gets promoted to thesecretary position as opposed to
just the office worker.
Like she takes the place as thenew secretary and the old
secretary, who was just a bootycall, is like well, I can't
believe, I was just a booty callthis whole time.
And so she goes.
She knows all his secrets andso she, she just quits Like she
(26:29):
just walks.
Like after she gets demoted tojust plain old office worker,
she grabs all his this, thesecretary.
The secretary knows whoJennifer is, obviously because
she's like that's, that's thewoman that's not keeping my man
happy and he's with her when heshould be with me and I'm going
(26:51):
to make him happy.
So she gives Jennifer like thisthing that that is exposing.
So Jennifer's husband has a lotof mines in Africa and it has
recently come out that asbestosis all over these mines.
So a lot of these men that workin the mines are falling sick.
Now this is the 1960s, so atthis point in time asbestos
(27:15):
being a bad thing was not commonknowledge.
Now it is starting to becomelike investigations are starting
to happen into these minesafter like, just men, like all
these men are getting sick ofbeing in these mines.
And it's starting like thisresearch is starting to reveal
like yo, asbestos is bad for you, so, and your mines are like
(27:35):
filled with asbestos, so that'sbad, and we think the asbestos
is causing all these men to besick, was causing all these men
to be sick.
And so Lawrence is likebasically starting to pay these
men under the table to like notreveal that asbestos is what's
killing them, so that he cankeep the mines open and hire new
(27:56):
people to take over the onesthat are getting sick.
And then, once, like you know,it's just a vicious cycle, it's
just this vicious capitalisticcycle, the worst of capitalism
is occurring in these minds.
So, yeah, so Lawrence is likepaying all these men under the
table, and the secretary knowsthis, she has all the
correspondence.
So she gives this informationto Jennifer and she's like do
(28:17):
this information with you?
Will I wash my hands of thisman?
And she leaves with her headheld high, I guess.
And then Jennifer's like well,I can use this to leave Lawrence
.
So she goes to Lawrence and islike I'm leaving you, we're not
getting a divorce, because thisis the 1960s and it would look
bad if I got a divorce.
But I'm leaving you.
I'm going to live in my ownhouse that you're going to pay
(28:40):
for with, and I'm going to livethere with our daughter.
You're allowed to see herwhenever you want and we're just
.
I'm just going to become arecluse and we're just going to
like, whenever it's just like,people in our circle ask where I
am, we're just going to saythat I mean, it's the 1960s.
We're just going to say thatI've I don't know have hysteria
or something.
(29:00):
I don't know if that was athing, but essentially
they're're going to say thatshe's fallen ill and she can't
leave the house.
So whatever happened in the1960s that prevented women from
leaving?
That was apparently not.
That was like, oh, that's bad,but not shocking, you don't need
to check up on this woman.
I mean, you probably shouldhave, but you're not going to
check up on this woman kind ofsituation, whatever, the
(29:23):
equivalent whatever, like you,excuse that you could make in
the 1960s or excuses, whatever.
So, yeah, so she's like we'renot getting a divorce, but I'm
going to live on my own andyou're going to pay for it and
and you can see her daughterwhenever you want.
But she's going to live with meand you're not going to tell
anyone why we're we have thisarrangement, because if you do,
I'm going to expose yourasbestos minds to the world.
(29:45):
And lawrence is like all right,well, you got me, I give in to
all your terms and she's likegreat.
So that's how she's able toleave lawrence, although she's
not able to be reunited withboob, because again she does,
she does go looking for him withthe intent intention of leaving
with him, but she's told thathe's gone.
He's's gone so in the film.
(30:07):
So, as I said, in the film hedoes actually leave on his next
assignment and whenever hereturns from that assignment,
the letters are have long beenmisplaced and ended up in
archives.
So he and everyone just forgetsabout them.
So he never knows that Jenniferwent looking for him.
In the book he has, the.
So Boo is eager to return tothe Congo Like his first.
(30:30):
He was like a war correspondentand he wrote all about the war
in the Congo.
So when he returned and he wasassigned to like high society,
like writing about high society,whatever, which is what led him
to meeting Jennifer in thefirst place, like he was very
upset.
He's like I want to be writingabout this, like I want to write
like real stuff that matters.
And his editor was like, well,no, you're writing about this,
(30:51):
so he had to write about that.
So in the book he's given thechance to return to the Congo
and he's thinking about it.
He's seriously, seriouslyconsidering it.
But around the time he'sseriously seriously considering
leaving for the Congo, butbefore he can make the decision
to leave, that's when hisex-wife gets sick and he becomes
(31:14):
his son's primary guardian andso he can't leave to the Congo
at that point, because now hehas his son to care for and
raise.
So he never leaves for theCongo.
But the editor is like whenJennifer again Jennifer goes to
the hotel, the hotel's like he'sgone.
She goes to the newspaperoffice and the editor's like he
left to the Congo already, lady,like I don't know what to tell
(31:36):
you.
And she's like, okay, well, lethim know that I'm looking for
him.
And she calls repeatedly to thenewspaper office.
In the film she doesn't, shejust leaves the letters and
leaves and that's it.
She never sees him again.
Well, until later, which wewill get into but in the book.
She calls consistently and theeditor's always like I don't
(31:56):
know what to tell you.
He's still not back, he's stillnot back.
She keeps calling and beinglike is he back, is he back?
And they keep telling her likeno, he's not back.
And it turns out that theeditor this whole time has been
lying because he.
So after Jennifer leaves thehotel and boots, he said he has
a daughter, that she has adaughter, and he's like well,
she's never going to leave me.
Now he gets like blackoutplastered and the editor saw how
(32:21):
like his reaction to Jennifer.
So he's like no, I'm not, thiswoman is trouble for him, I'm
not going to tell him.
So he lies to Boot and he keepslying to Jennifer to make sure
that they stay apart, because hedoesn't realize at this point
that Jennifer's looking to leaveher husband.
He just sees her as trouble andhe's like I'm going to protect
(32:42):
Boot and I'm not going to letthem be reunited.
So that is why they neverreunite in the book.
So when Ellie Hayworth goes tothe archives and discovers
Jennifer's letters, sheeventually figures out like who
these letters belong to.
So she goes to Jennifer andshe's like I found these letters
.
I just want to ask you aboutthem.
(33:03):
I want to see if you want themback.
And Jennifer's like nope, thatwas a different time in my life.
I want to put it to rest.
I'm not interested in likelooking back on that time in my
life.
Goodbye, leave me alone.
In the book Jennifer is well,she's an open book Like Ellie
shows up and is like can youtell me about the letters?
And Jennifer tells like thewhole story from beginning to
(33:23):
end.
And then Ellie's like well,what happened to Boot?
And that's when she says, oh,he went to the Congo.
I went looking for him.
Like I went to the little Congoto go looking for him and but
at the time, like the war wasreally, really bad and anyone
who was white was like gettingkilled upon sight, and so they
(33:43):
didn't even like she got to theair killed upon sight, and so
they didn't even like she got tothe air not the congo airport,
like she got to whatever airportand that was like her
connecting flight.
And they're like weren't, youcan't fly to the congo, like
there's too much politicalunrest, you're traveling alone.
You're a white woman, likeyou're gonna be killed.
So like no, we're not lettingyou go to the congo and she's
like but I'm really looking forthis journalist and and they're
(34:04):
like well, he's probably dead,so just go back to the UK,
there's no way we can let you in.
So she goes back.
As I said in the film, shedoesn't go looking for him in
the Congo or anywhere and shejust fully relies on the
newspaper office giving theletters to boot.
And again she goes looking forhim because at this point that's
(34:27):
what she was told she has.
Obviously she has no idea thatthe editor is lying.
Like why, like, why would shesuspect that the editor was
lying?
So, yeah, so she, she goes tothe conga looking for him and
she's not able to even get intothe country.
But yeah, like she's so open,she's like happy to talk to
ellie and reveal the whole story.
And in the film, like she's soopen, she's like happy to talk
to Ellie and reveal the wholestory.
(34:47):
And in the film, like she isnot having it, she's like nope,
nope, nope, nope.
So in the film Ellie ends updiscovering who Boot is.
She convinces like, this wholetime Jennifer has kept so the
way they wrote letters to eachother so as not to other, so
Lawrence would never find themis that Jennifer opened a PO box
(35:08):
and Boot would write letters tothat PO box.
And so all these years later,like, jennifer has kept that PO
box open.
So, ellie, after she finds Boot, she convinces Boot to write
one last letter to her and saylike to her and and say, like
I'm I if you're, if you want topick this up.
(35:29):
Even now, all these years later, later, as old people like,
let's do it, meet me in the park.
And she finds the letter andthey do, they reunite in the
park, happy ending.
But it's kind of like ellie doesresearch and finds out where he
is in.
I mean, she does research inthe book too, but it is not this
convenient in the film, like inthe book it is, it's.
It's this convenient in thefilm, like in the book it is,
it's.
It's one of those like wow,what are the odds?
(35:49):
Kind of situation.
So she finds a Philip O'Hare,she finds a contact information
for Philip O'Hare and she writesto him.
He works at a differentnewspaper than she does and
she's like hey, um, philip, um,I don't know if you're the
correct Philip O'Hare, but Ijust want to know.
Like I work at this newspaper.
(36:09):
I'm looking for information onAnthony O'Hare.
Is that your dad?
Can you tell me what happenedto him?
Blah, blah, blah.
And Philip O'Hare gets in touchwith her and he's like what
newspaper did you say you workfor?
And she's like this one.
And he's like, wow, you know,my dad still works at that same
newspaper, right?
And she's like what?
No, he doesn't.
Like I know all the journalists.
And fellow boy is like well, hedoesn't work as a journalist
(36:31):
anymore, he works as the headlibrarian of archives.
So again, what are the oddsthat again this does not happen?
In the film Ellie's like wow,I've interacted with that man.
I had no idea that was Boo.
So that's how she finds out whoBoo is.
And again, same thing.
She tells Boo she still has thesame PO box.
(36:52):
Write hera letter.
And he does.
They reunite in the park.
Jennifer and Boo have a happyending after.
So, after like 40 years, theyfinally get their happy ending.
So this whole time, as I said,ellie has been in a relationship
with a married man and she'skind of like in the hopes that
he's going to leave his wife forher, and obviously that doesn't
(37:14):
happen.
But she ends up getting really,really close to an archivist
who works at the newspaper, ather newspaper by the name of
Rory.
So as she discovers letterslike, she gets closer to him.
They form a friendship.
This also happens in the film.
Um, they form a friendship andeventually they start developing
feelings for each other.
(37:35):
But in the book she's in denialbecause of her relationship
with the married man.
In the film it's because of hercommitment issues that she's
scared of stepping into arelationship with him.
Seeing Ellie I mean seeingJennifer and Boot, and just
talking to Boot, and he's like,don't live your life with
regrets.
Like, if you have feelings forthis guy, like do something
(37:56):
about it.
And so she does.
And then Ellie and Rory alsohave a happy ending.
It is not smooth sailing in thebook for Ellie and Rory.
So he discovers that she's in arelationship with a married man
and he's like, nope, I don'twant drama, I'm not interested
in drama.
I'm also very, very againstcheating, because my
(38:18):
ex-girlfriend cheated on me andthen she said she was remorseful
.
I took her back and she endedup cheating on me again.
So I have no sympathy for youbeing the other woman, no, no.
And so once Ellie discovers whoBoo is, and so before.
Well, she's been havingconversations with the head
librarian.
(38:38):
Again, he doesn't go by thename Anthonyony o'hare, she,
just he has a different name atthis point.
He goes by something else.
So she never puts two and twotogether and so she, as as rory,
like once she and rory havethat fight, he like obviously
distances himself from hercompletely, and so that's when
she kind of turns into the headlibrarian for help.
(39:00):
But she's always asking forRory.
And so Boot, as he gets to knowEllie and he works with her, he
puts two and two together andhe's like I think you have
feelings for this boy.
So when Rory mentions Rory andEllie end up sleeping together
and then the morning after hefinds out about the whole being
(39:20):
with a married man thing, andthen, like the morning after he
finds out about the whole beingwith a married man thing.
So Boot is like Rory mentionslike I'm going on an assignment,
I'm going to be gone for a fewmonths, but like I'm interested
in pursuing this, if you'reinterested in pursuing this too,
and I understand like if youwant to wait until I'm back, but
just I'm interested.
And so she's trying to get moreinformation about, like his
assignment and things like that.
(39:40):
And Boot realizes like wow, sheloved, like she has feelings
for this man.
After she tells him aboutJennifer and like tells him,
tells Boot to write to her, bootsays, okay, and this is where
you can find Rory, if you reallyhave feelings for him.
Like don't let this opportunitypass you by.
Like take it from someone withexperience in this situation.
(40:01):
And she's like, okay.
So then she goes to Rory, sheapologizes, they make up and
that's where the book ends.
So yeah, that was the bookversus the film.
It's really interesting how JojoMoyes basically tells the same
story, but like two, like twosides the same coin.
(40:24):
So, like in Jennifer's instance, like she's the one cheating on
her husband and Ellie is theother woman.
And it's so interesting how Idon't condone cheating in any
shape, way or form.
I just want to make that veryclear.
But, that being said, like theway she writes Jennifer's story,
like you can't help but rootingfor her and Boot to be together
(40:45):
.
And maybe it's because, likeshe's in this loveless marriage
and there's an actual connectionbetween her and Boot, like
you're rooting for them.
And then you get to Ellie'ssection and it's like, oh,
sweetie, honey, pie.
No, like that man's never goingto leave you.
You're just, you're his go-to,like you're his side chick and
that's all you're ever going tobe.
Like don't stay in thatrelationship.
(41:05):
Like don't be the other woman,leave.
So it's like you have like acheating story that you root for
and then you have a cheatingstory that you don't root for.
So it's just interesting.
It's just interesting how JojoMoyes manages to get you to root
for one and not the other.
But I don't condone cheating.
Obviously, I am always team.
(41:26):
If you just realize you don'thave feelings for that person
anymore.
I'm on team.
Divorce or separation Don't putyour partner through that.
But I also understand whyJennifer didn't do that, because
this is during the 60 60s.
Divorce was looked down upon.
She's also an upper class woman.
She's gonna become a socialpariah and she has.
(41:48):
Like she becomes a socialpariah.
Like that means from.
Like her family's gonna disownher.
She's not gonna have anyfriends.
Like there's just a lot more atstake for her.
Um, like the man in the modern,in in the present day, the one
that's with Ellie, like he canleave his wife at any time.
Like it's obviously he's notgoing to.
But it's like don't cheat onyour wife, you asshole, like,
(42:09):
just just leave her and be withEllie.
I know you're not going tobecause you, you want both, but
you know.
So I don't condone cheating,but it's, it's just like.
But I can see Jennifer's pointof view and I still feel bad
that I'm kind of like, I kind ofwant it to work out, but yeah,
so that, yeah, that is just oneof those like interesting things
.
But I do want to make it clearI don't condemn cheating.
(42:30):
Um, please don't.
I have like weird morals orsomething, but anyway, yeah, so
I I just found that reallyinteresting and I do have to
agree.
I like in the film.
I was a lot more invested, Ithink, in both the book and the
film.
I was a lot more invested inJennifer and Boots storyline
than I was with Ellie.
But in the film, like becauseyou're there with Ellie a lot
(42:51):
sooner and she's also not withlike a married man, I think it's
a lot easier to like Ellie inthe film than you do in the book
.
So, yeah, let's get into it.
I mean, I want to say that thefilm is very well acted.
Yeah, I've clearly run out ofsteam, so let's get to the
rating.
I rated the film three and ahalf stars and I rated the book
(43:13):
four stars, so that means thebook is the winner.
Yay, the book is so much betterin this instance and, mind you,
I still really really like thefilm.
It's definitely not like one ofthose things where I read the
book and I was like what is thisfilm?
I was just so surprised at howdifferent they were.
But I think I definitely Istill recommend the film If
(43:35):
you're interested in checking itout, I do still recommend it.
But I think what definitelymakes the book much better than
the film is just how much moredetail we get in the book than
we do in the film.
Like we have moments in whichit didn't get a little too.
Like I said, what are the odds?
This is so convenient towardsthe end of it yes, yes, it did,
(43:57):
but it's still such a great bookand I love how much more
details there were.
We got a lot more details ofJennifer trying to put her life
back together, of Jenniferpiecing this information and
realizing like I don't love myhusband, as opposed to I didn't
love you, did I?
I was gonna leave you, wasn't I?
(44:17):
It just happens so much morefaster in the film and I really
like that.
The book digs into the detailsa lot more and we dig in a lot
more into the details of Ellieas well and I think yeah, I did
like the change that she's moreof a commitment phobe in the
film.
Like I think that's something Ican most people can back up a
(44:38):
lot more than just like he'sgoing to leave me and it's like
no, sweetie, he's not Doyourself a favor and leave.
So I really liked that theymade that change for the film.
But anyway, yeah, check out thebook.
The book is a clear winner forme and I highly highly recommend
the book.
But, like I said, if you'restill interested in checking out
(44:58):
this story and maybe you're notnecessarily interested in
reading it the film is stillreally, really good.
That is it for this episode ofBooks vs Movies and I will see
you next time.
Bye.
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set
out to answer the age-oldquestion is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Yuvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York City
, and today I will be discussingthe Last Letter from your Lover
by Jojo Moyes and its 2021adaptation the Last Letter from
your Lover, starring ShaileneWoodley, callum Turner, joe
(00:22):
Alwyn and Felicity Jones.
Hi everyone, I am so exhaustedbecause I just got off set from
working on a short film and itwas great, but it's a very
emotionally taxing role and Ireally felt it.
So I'm exhausted, but I'mexcited to be here and I really
(00:44):
want to make sure that I havethis episode out and ready to go
by the day it comes out.
So that is what I'm doing I'mhere, I'm excited, I'm ready and
, yeah, let's get started.
So the Last Letter from yourLover by Jojo Moyes was first
published in 2011.
The book starts off in 1960.
(01:04):
Jennifer Sterling wakes up fromthe hospital and she's not
really sure what she's doingthere.
She can't remember anything.
Little by little, she's toldsmall details, like she was in a
car accident.
She doesn't remember anyone,not even her husband, and, to be
honest, she doesn't really knowmuch about herself.
(01:24):
She starts trying to go back toher normal life, but she's
having a difficult time about it.
That's until she finds a letter.
This letter is extremelypassionate and is asking her to
leave her husband, but she hasno idea who sent it, other than
it's signed by the letter B.
We skip forward to 2003 whereour protagonist of 2003,
(01:50):
journalist Ellie Hayworth,discovers a mysterious love
letter amongst the newspaperarchives.
She reads it and she becomesobsessed with finding out who
wrote this letter and she hopesshe can find.
She can write a compellingstory that'll save her
journalistic career as it'sslowly unraveling.
(02:10):
She's also drawn by the lettersand the way they're written and
the passion clearly behind themas she's trying to figure out
what's going on in her own lovelife.
As Ellie digs deeper into theromance of these letters, she
starts discovering things aboutherself and her own romance.
The 2021 adaptation the LastLetter from your Lover follows
(02:36):
two stories one set in the past,one set in the present.
One storyline follows ajournalist determined to
discover the secret of aforbidden love affair detailed
in some letters written in the1960s.
So it sounds like it's a prettyfaithful adaptation, but it's
(02:56):
actually quite different.
There's quite a few differencesand, yeah, this is not as
faithful as it may seem, solet's get into it.
And I do want to say, becausethis is very different, there
will be spoilers on both, butmost of the spoilers will be for
the book.
So, if you're interested inreading this book, read it first
(03:16):
and then come back and listento this episode, and I look
forward to welcoming you backwhenever you're ready to listen
to this.
But, yes, most of the spoilerswill be coming for the book.
I mean, there are spoilers forboth, but the main spoilers are
coming from the book, becausethere are just some things that
I have to bring up that don'thappen in the film, but they
happen in the book.
So the first big thing that'smajorly different about the two
(03:40):
is that the book is told inchronological order.
We start off in the 1960s.
We're told the story ofJennifer Sterling, and she
starts off waking up in thehospital and then it jumps.
Well, it's chronological andthen it takes place all in the
60s.
We do jump back and forthbetween Jennifer waking up in
(04:03):
the hospital and gettingsnatches of what led her into
being in this car accident andthen back to her trying to
figure out the details of herpast.
And yes, but it's told inchronological order in the sense
that, like part one of the bookis all takes place in the 1960s
and then part two of the book,all except for one chapter when
(04:24):
a bombshell is revealed.
We travel quickly back to 1960to find out the details of this
bombshell and then we continuein chronological order.
So that's what I mean bychronological order, because the
film jumps back and forthconsistently between, like, we
get a glimpse of the 1960sbefore we jump back to the
(04:45):
present day and then we jumpback to the 60s.
And obviously the main reasonthe film does that is because
you can get away with I've saidthis before you can get away
with introducing a characterlate in the game.
And I will say, based on a lotof reviews I've seen on this
book, even with this book itmight be introduced a little bit
(05:05):
too late, because a lot ofpeople are just not very
interested in Ellie's story andthey don't really like Ellie,
but they really, really intoJennifer's story and they want
to know all of Jennifer's story.
So it's possible to do it inbooks, but the payoff might
still not be the same, but infilm you definitely, definitely,
definitely have to introduce us, since it's a visual medium.
(05:28):
You have to introduce us to allthe characters that you want us
to root for from the get-go.
So, yes, you can start off in1960 and then fast forward, time
forward, jump forward in timewhy can I not speak?
Jump forward in time tointroduce, like the new
characters.
But you still have to do thatrelatively early on, like you
can't spend the first half ofthe film just introducing us to
(05:51):
Jennifer and her story and thenswitch midway to Ellie's story,
the way it does in the book,because we've spent this whole
entire journey in the filmgetting to know Jennifer and her
circumstances and it would justbe way too jarring to introduce
us to a whole new storylinefilm storyline.
So, yeah, it's important tointroduce the people you want us
(06:14):
to root for right from thebeginning.
And I'm sure we've all seenthose films in which, like a
character is introduced out ofnowhere and you're like, why do
I care what you have to say?
I have no idea who you are andI'm not talking about like
someone who's there for like aone line gag, you know, like a
character who delivers majorpiece of news, but anyway.
So that is why I believe thathappens in the film and that's I
(06:35):
mean, I'm pretty sure that'swhy the film is told that way.
But yes, the film is toldstrictly through time jumps,
while the book is relatively inchronological order.
So Ellie Hayworth, played byFelicity Jones in the film, we
find out that she has recentlybroken up with her boyfriend and
this was like a very majorbreakup.
(06:56):
So now she's scared of intimacyand she's scared of being in a
committed relationship.
So we find out that she is.
She has one night stands andeven then, like if whoever she
has a one night stand with wakesup the next day in her room,
she's very awkward about thewhole situation.
She's kind of like oh, you'restill here, great, can you leave
(07:21):
now?
Like, just leave now.
So she's, she's doing that,she's having a lot of one-night
stands and she's very, veryscared of being in a committed
relationship once again.
But in the book she's not.
She is in a long-termrelationship with a married man.
So not ideal by any means, butshe's, you know, she's under the
(07:45):
illusion that he's going toleave his wife for her and that
they're going to love a veryhappy life together as soon as
he does that, but he just needsto do it first.
But she's ready and she's readyto move in with him tomorrow if
he asked her to.
So she is in a I don't want tosay a committed relationship,
(08:06):
because you can't really becommitted if you're the only
person committed to it.
But she has been in a long-termrelationship with this one man,
like to the point where she'snot seeing other people and her
friends encourage her to seeother people.
You know her friends are likethis man's never going to leave
you.
So if you insist on continuingto see him, I don't approve of
the fact that you're continuingto see him.
(08:28):
But if you insist on continuingto see this man, like, at least
continue seeing other peopleand have fun, because this man
is sleeping with you and hiswife and he's getting double the
joy and you're kind of justmoping over him when he's not
with you.
So at least see other people.
So yeah, so she's definitelynot afraid of commitment.
(08:48):
In the book, in the film she is.
Jennifer Sterling in the book isfrom the UK, jennifer Sterling
in the film is from the US andI'm not sure if they just made
that choice because they castShailene Woodley because I feel
like she might I'm sure shemight be able to do a British
dialect.
(09:08):
So they could have made thecharacter from the UK and just.
But I don't know, maybe theyreally liked Shailene and wanted
to keep her as being from theUS, just in honor of Shailene.
I don't know, I don't have thereason for that.
But yeah, jennifer Sterling inthe book is from the UK, just
like all the characters are fromthe UK, because Jojo Moyes is a
(09:30):
British writer.
So all the characters areBritish and in the book and in
the film only Jennifer Sterlingplayed by Shailene Woodley is
not.
She's originally from New YorkCity.
So Jennifer Sterling we end updiscovering is she ends up
having an affair, which is whatled her to be in this accident
(09:51):
that causes this amnesia.
So she is running away to bewith him and on her way there
it's raining and they're rushing.
Her friend is rushing to gether there on time and it's
raining heavily, and so there'sa car accident and he dies.
But she survives and ends up inthe hospital with amnesia.
(10:12):
But in the film she kind ofjust decides I'm going to leave
him, this is what I want, andshe packs up and her husband is
at a dinner party and or he'seither, I don't remember.
In the book he's for sure likegonna come pick her up to take
her to the dinner party.
I think in the film he mightalready be there and she's gonna
(10:35):
go meet him over there.
I don't really remember thedetails of that.
That's not really thatimportant.
But in the film, like she justshe decides to leave and she
leaves him before she ends up inthe accident and she kind of
comes to this realization on herown, like what am I doing?
I'm not in, I'm not in lovewith my husband, I'm in love
with this other man and I wantto be with him.
So I'm going to go be with him.
And in the book so Jennifer andher husband are very I don't
(10:59):
remember the husband's name,larry, is it Larry Lawrence?
I don't know.
So I'm just going to call himMr Sterling, but his name is not
important.
Like this man is.
He's important in the book.
He's not really important inthe film.
He's still not important, otherthan the fact that Jennifer
needs to be married, but likehe's really not important in the
film but anyway in the booklike he does play a much larger
role than he does in the film.
(11:20):
But anyway, that's not thepoint.
Jennifer and Mrs Sterling arerich.
They are very, very wealthy,and so they have a housekeeper
by the name of Mrs Cordoza.
And in the book Mrs Cordoza isthe one that convinces Jennifer
to leave.
She notices that, jennifer.
She notices the signs becauseMrs Cordoza, back when she was a
(11:40):
young woman, was also in lovewith the married man and she
regrets not leaving with himwhen the opportunity presented
itself, and so she doesn't wantJennifer to do the same.
So she recognizes the signs, soshe tells Jennifer this story
of regret and convinces Jenniferlike listen, you only have one
life, and if you're not happywith the person you're with,
(12:02):
like, go be with the one that'sactually making you happy, I
will help you leave.
And so Mrs Cordoza actuallyhelps Jennifer pack and stalls
when Mr Sterling shows up Again,this is in the book, so he's
for sure coming to the house topick her up.
So she helps Jennifer pack andJennifer leaves.
And she has a plan to stall MrSterling to hopefully give
(12:26):
Jennifer enough time to get onthe train station, get to the
train station, so by the time heis like you're lying to me and
he goes looking for Jennifer.
She's on the train and on herway to a new life with Boot the
lover.
His name is Anthony, anthonyO'Hare, but she calls him Boot.
I'm just going to call him Bootbecause Anthony O'Hare is.
Let's just go with Boot.
(12:46):
So if you hear me refer to Boot, boot is Jennifer's.
Boot is just so much more funto say too, boot is Jennifer's
lover.
So, yes, so in the book, mrsCardoza, as I said, helps
Jennifer escape.
In the film, jennifer kind ofjust comes to that realization
on her own that she wants to bewith Boot and she heads off to
(13:07):
find him.
So in the book, as I said, inthe film as well, but it's not
as like the book is, it takesits time showing us Jennifer
recovering her memories anddiscovering these letters and
trying to figure out who thislover is.
And, as I said, as she wakes upfrom the hospital, she feels
(13:30):
like a stranger in her own lifebecause she doesn't remember
really who she is, what sheliked, what she was into.
She doesn't know her husband,she feels nothing towards her
husband and she kind of justhopes that it's the amnesia
that's preventing her fromfeeling in connection with her
husband.
And then she discovers thefirst letter from Boop.
(13:52):
She has these hidden all overher house.
So she tries looking for allthe letters from Boop and little
by little she finds them andshe realizes like my husband
doesn't love me, like Boop isthe one that really loves me,
like look at the way he'stalking to me in these letters.
And so once she realizes likeI'm not happy in my marriage I
wasn't happy in my marriage LikeI was looking to leave with
(14:13):
this man she still doesn't knowall the details, they're kind of
foggy, but I mean, based on theletters and how they're written
, she's like I was planning onleaving my husband.
So she goes looking for him andshe just straight up starts
being mean to her husband, likeMr Sterling is, I wouldn't say,
does he love her?
I mean I guess he does.
(14:34):
I mean I don't know if hegenuinely loves her, but he does
have like some you know what?
No, I think at least in thebook he does genuinely love her.
He doesn't love her in the film, but in the book.
I would say he does genuinelylove her at first.
And then once he realizes likethis woman is never, like she
doesn't even know who this loveris, and she'd still rather be
(14:54):
with him, like a man she doesn'tremember, than with me.
So, like F it, that's fine, I'mjust going to start screwing
the help.
So not Mrs Cordoza, hissecretaries, so, anyway.
So, yes, the book takes a lotmore time.
Looking into this, like in thefilm, jennifer comes to this
realization and then, but she'snot like she's trying, she's
(15:18):
putting the pieces together, butshe, like Jennifer in the in
the book, is definitely tryingto be like who is my lover?
Is it this guy?
Is it this guy?
Is it this guy?
And then, like this one guythat's like a work colleague or
something like that for herhusband.
He seems to show a lot ofinterest in her.
So she's like, oh, this has tobe my lover.
(15:39):
And then when he tries to likehave sex with her, she like
actually no, like I feel nothing, nothing, I'm as I'm as dry as
a dried out.
Well, like, this is not mylover.
And so he like gets pissed off.
And mr sterling finds them inthis compromising position and
that's when he reveals like yourlover died, jennifer.
(15:59):
Your lover died the night thatyou tried to leave me.
So like the best thing you cando is just move, like, forget
about him and just focus on ourmarriage.
And Jennifer's like oh wow, Ididn't realize that he died the
night I tried to leave you.
Okay, I will do that, I willfocus on my marriage to you.
And in the film this doesn'thappen Like.
Jennifer is trying to figure outwho her lover is, but it's not
(16:22):
like any man that showsaffection to her.
She's like this is the man.
It's more so like if arestaurant is mentioned in the
letters, she goes to therestaurant to ask around.
If a person is mentioned, shetries to figure out who this
person is so she can ask themabout her lover.
So there's never like Jennifernever has almost has another
(16:42):
affair with another man the wayshe does in the book.
But she is trying to piecetogether who her lover is.
And Mr Sterling, played by JoeAlwyn, finds out that she's
doing that.
She's still looking for herlover.
She finds like the very, verylast letter he sent her, which
is the one that says leave withme, like leave your husband, I'm
going to meet you at the trainstation at this time she finds
(17:04):
that letter in Mr Sterling'sstudy and she confronts her
husband about it and that's whenhe says your lover died, your
lover died, and that's when shefocuses on her marriage.
Four years pass.
So Boo this whole time has beenin New York.
He's a journalist.
So he goes to New York to workas a journalist over there for
(17:24):
four years and then he comesback.
And when he's back so theperson who actually died to
clarify, no, boot did not diewhen he was waiting for her at
the train station, like he saidhe would be the person that died
was a mutual, was a friend ofhis.
So this friend of his worked ata restaurant that they like to
frequent.
So it was a restaurant, likenot a restaurant a bar at the
(17:46):
top.
And then there's like aspeakeasy type thing, except it
wasn't a speakeasy because thistakes place in the 60s and, as
far as I know, prohibitiondidn't exist in the UK.
Prohibition was just a US thing.
I could be wrong about that,but as far as I know,
prohibition was just a US thing,so there was no need for a
speakeasy.
Now, prohibition was just a USthing, so there was no need for
(18:07):
a speakeasy.
But just to give you an idea.
So it's like a bar at the topand then you go down the stairs
and you're at like a club.
So he worked there.
And when she decides to leaveLawrence, she's like running
super, super late and she wantsto be sure she gets to the train
station on time.
So she runs to the restaurantand asks this man for help, like
please give me a ride to thetrain station on time.
So she runs to the restaurantand asks this man for help, like
(18:29):
please give me a ride to thetrain station.
And he's the one that dies inthe accident.
So it's not Boot, it's this man.
And so four years pass and Bootand Jennifer bump into each
other.
So in the film they kind of justbump into each other on the
street and all of Jennifer'smemories come flooding back and
like she takes one look at himand she's like, oh my gosh,
you're my lover.
And like everything comesflooding.
But she gains her memory backLike the amnesia is gone.
(18:51):
So I'm not trying to soundfacetious, like I'm I don't know
how amnesia like where.
I'm sure maybe that's reallyhow amnesia works.
That's just how I'm explainingit.
I realized as I was explainingit that I was like I'm like I
saw a miracle, like I'm nottrying to give it that vibe.
That's just how it came out.
But anyway, this is whathappens when I'm tired, like the
sass comes out, okay, anyway.
(19:12):
So, yes, she and Booth justlike bump into it.
I remember this because I loveChristmas and this takes place
during the Christmas time andlike there's Christmas trees in
the background and they bumpinto each other and the snow is
falling and they see each otherand it all comes flooding back
and it's just the most wonderfultime of the year.
So you know what a time to getyour memories back during the
(19:36):
most wonderful time of the year.
So that's how that happens inthe book.
I think Boo is there to coversomething again for his
newspaper.
So they meet initially becausehe's covering her husband's
business.
So I think this time he'seither invited to the party that
they're having or he's there asa journalist.
(19:57):
I don't remember that exactdetail, but the point is it's
not just a random bump on thestreet, like they're having a
party and he's there and theyrun into each other at this
party and Jennifer's like, oh mygosh, that's him, that's
definitely my lover.
And they reunite at his hoteland in the book and have
(20:18):
passionate sex before she leavesand he's like I'm not going to
wait for you anymore, so like,if you leave, you better be sure
.
And then, as she's leaving, mrsCordoza shows up with
Jennifer's daughter and he'slike, oh, she has a daughter and
so he's trying not to be tooupset, but he's still like you
can come, like you can bringyour daughter, that's fine.
Like, I have a son and I likethe son.
(20:41):
I don't even know why the sonis a thing in the film because,
like this poor son, he's justlike, like boot mentions, oh
yeah, I have a son.
And then we never hear aboutlike and I think he's mentioned
like one more time and then wenever hear about this son again
in the film.
Like this poor child is justlike, yeah, I have a son, it's
fine, and I have you now,jennifer.
(21:02):
So like, why would I need myson?
And in the like in in the book,the son plays a very important
well, not very important role,but he plays a role Like his
wife his ex-wife, I should saywants to get remarried and she
wants Boot to like sign over hisparental rights so that her new
husband can adopt him.
And Boot's like I don't want togive up my parental rights, like
(21:24):
I know I don't see him often,but that's my son and I don't.
I don't see him often, not bychoice, it's because you don't
really let me see him that often.
And she's like okay, I guess,like fine, you can keep your
parental rights, so, and and sheends up dying later of cancer,
like a very, very aggressivecancer that comes on very, very
(21:45):
suddenly and then she dieswithin a few months.
So once she dies, like Booth'sson comes to live with his
father and it's this whole thingwhere Booth has a relationship
with his son from that moment on, and in the film it's like,
like I said, he's mentionedtwice and then we never hear
about this person again.
So I think he's supposed to belike a deadbeat father in the
(22:06):
film.
So it's like, like I said, he'smentioned twice and then we
never hear about this personagain.
So I think he's supposed to belike a deadbeat father in the
film.
So it's like why would jennifertrust you to like with her
daughter?
Like that?
I don't know.
I mean, although that I haveunfortunately heard stories of
that where they're not they'relike deadbeats to their
biological children, but they'relike amazing parents to their
step-step children.
But whatever, that's not thepoint of this story.
(22:28):
I'm going to just keep going on.
Tangents, guys, you're gettingreally, really, really
unfiltered Yuvia today, and Idon't know what it is about my
being tired, but this is whathappens, anyway, moving on, so,
yeah, he's trying not to beupset because it's like, well,
now it's even more.
Like it was difficult for herto leave because of it being the
(22:51):
60s and societal expectations.
Like it was already hard forher to leave when she didn't
have a child.
Now that she has a child, likeit's even harder.
So he's trying not to be tooupset, but he kind of is,
because he really wants to spendhis life with this woman.
So in the film, jenniferSterling, once she finds out
that Boot has been alive andthat Mr Sterling lied to her,
(23:13):
she basically goes up to him andis like I'm staying with you
because we have a daughter, andthat's literally the only reason
.
If you mistreat me in any shape, way or form, I'm out of here.
I'm taking my daughter with meand we're leaving you behind.
So don't even think aboutmistreating me.
And he's like all right, bet,you're a woman in the 1960s,
(23:35):
you're the one that cheated onme, so no matter what you're
going to be seen as anadulteress.
The court is going to alwaysfavor the man who is also not
the adulterer in this situationand full custody will be granted
to me.
So, just, I will treat youhowever the hell I want.
And Jennifer's like not this.
(23:57):
What am I going to do?
You know like yeah, that's agood point, there's nothing I
can do.
I'm a rich woman in the 1960sand divorce is very much looked
down upon, so I'm just going toget up and leave and take my
daughter with me.
And so she takes her daughter,goes straight to Boots Hotel.
The person at the hotel is likehe already checked out.
(24:17):
And then so she goes to thenewspaper office where he works
at and is like can you tell mewhere he?
Can you let him know that I'mhere?
And the newspaper office islike yo, he's already gone, he's
already left to his other, tohis next assignment, he's out of
the country.
And she's like she leaves allher letters at the newspaper
office and is like when you havea chance, please give, give
(24:38):
these to him and let him knowthat I'm looking for him.
He'll know what that means andhe'll come looking for me.
I mean, she doesn't say thatexactly, but that's, I mean,
it's implied.
And so the newspaper office islike, okay, sure, and then they
end up just getting lost in thearchives somewhere.
They're never given to Bootwhen he returns.
So Boot has no idea thatJennifer tried to leave Lawrence
(25:00):
.
I'm pretty sure it's LawrenceLawrence once again to be with
him.
In the book, as I said, I'mpretty sure Mr Sterling has
genuine love and affectiontowards Jennifer.
And then once he realizes likeit's a lost cause, she doesn't
love me, he starts having anaffair with his secretary.
And this secretary is in lovewith him, like she fantasizes
(25:23):
about being with this man in anyshape way that she can be with
him.
And so the first time, likehe's just going through the
motions of just like, likescrewing, and she's like, oh
yeah, he, he loves me.
And so, like the next few times, like for him it's just sex he
needs, he has like desires thathe needs to get them out of his
(25:46):
system.
She's a willing participant,and so he has sex with her, but
there's like not, like it isnothing, it means nothing.
She is just I'm not gonna bevulgar she is just there for him
to have sex with.
And so he, a new woman, is hiredand this person he actually has
a connection to like, not onlya physical connection but like
(26:08):
an emotional connection.
So she gets promoted to thesecretary position as opposed to
just the office worker.
Like she takes the place as thenew secretary and the old
secretary, who was just a bootycall, is like well, I can't
believe, I was just a booty callthis whole time.
And so she goes.
She knows all his secrets andso she, she just quits Like she
(26:29):
just walks.
Like after she gets demoted tojust plain old office worker,
she grabs all his this, thesecretary.
The secretary knows whoJennifer is, obviously because
she's like that's, that's thewoman that's not keeping my man
happy and he's with her when heshould be with me and I'm going
(26:51):
to make him happy.
So she gives Jennifer like thisthing that that is exposing.
So Jennifer's husband has a lotof mines in Africa and it has
recently come out that asbestosis all over these mines.
So a lot of these men that workin the mines are falling sick.
Now this is the 1960s, so atthis point in time asbestos
(27:15):
being a bad thing was not commonknowledge.
Now it is starting to becomelike investigations are starting
to happen into these minesafter like, just men, like all
these men are getting sick ofbeing in these mines.
And it's starting like thisresearch is starting to reveal
like yo, asbestos is bad for you, so, and your mines are like
(27:35):
filled with asbestos, so that'sbad, and we think the asbestos
is causing all these men to besick, was causing all these men
to be sick.
And so Lawrence is likebasically starting to pay these
men under the table to like notreveal that asbestos is what's
killing them, so that he cankeep the mines open and hire new
(27:56):
people to take over the onesthat are getting sick.
And then, once, like you know,it's just a vicious cycle, it's
just this vicious capitalisticcycle, the worst of capitalism
is occurring in these minds.
So, yeah, so Lawrence is likepaying all these men under the
table, and the secretary knowsthis, she has all the
correspondence.
So she gives this informationto Jennifer and she's like do
(28:17):
this information with you?
Will I wash my hands of thisman?
And she leaves with her headheld high, I guess.
And then Jennifer's like well,I can use this to leave Lawrence
.
So she goes to Lawrence and islike I'm leaving you, we're not
getting a divorce, because thisis the 1960s and it would look
bad if I got a divorce.
But I'm leaving you.
I'm going to live in my ownhouse that you're going to pay
(28:40):
for with, and I'm going to livethere with our daughter.
You're allowed to see herwhenever you want and we're just
.
I'm just going to become arecluse and we're just going to
like, whenever it's just like,people in our circle ask where I
am, we're just going to saythat I mean, it's the 1960s.
We're just going to say thatI've I don't know have hysteria
or something.
(29:00):
I don't know if that was athing, but essentially
they're're going to say thatshe's fallen ill and she can't
leave the house.
So whatever happened in the1960s that prevented women from
leaving?
That was apparently not.
That was like, oh, that's bad,but not shocking, you don't need
to check up on this woman.
I mean, you probably shouldhave, but you're not going to
check up on this woman kind ofsituation, whatever, the
(29:23):
equivalent whatever, like you,excuse that you could make in
the 1960s or excuses, whatever.
So, yeah, so she's like we'renot getting a divorce, but I'm
going to live on my own andyou're going to pay for it and
and you can see her daughterwhenever you want.
But she's going to live with meand you're not going to tell
anyone why we're we have thisarrangement, because if you do,
I'm going to expose yourasbestos minds to the world.
(29:45):
And lawrence is like all right,well, you got me, I give in to
all your terms and she's likegreat.
So that's how she's able toleave lawrence, although she's
not able to be reunited withboob, because again she does,
she does go looking for him withthe intent intention of leaving
with him, but she's told thathe's gone.
He's's gone so in the film.
(30:07):
So, as I said, in the film hedoes actually leave on his next
assignment and whenever hereturns from that assignment,
the letters are have long beenmisplaced and ended up in
archives.
So he and everyone just forgetsabout them.
So he never knows that Jenniferwent looking for him.
In the book he has, the.
So Boo is eager to return tothe Congo Like his first.
(30:30):
He was like a war correspondentand he wrote all about the war
in the Congo.
So when he returned and he wasassigned to like high society,
like writing about high society,whatever, which is what led him
to meeting Jennifer in thefirst place, like he was very
upset.
He's like I want to be writingabout this, like I want to write
like real stuff that matters.
And his editor was like, well,no, you're writing about this,
(30:51):
so he had to write about that.
So in the book he's given thechance to return to the Congo
and he's thinking about it.
He's seriously, seriouslyconsidering it.
But around the time he'sseriously seriously considering
leaving for the Congo, butbefore he can make the decision
to leave, that's when hisex-wife gets sick and he becomes
(31:14):
his son's primary guardian andso he can't leave to the Congo
at that point, because now hehas his son to care for and
raise.
So he never leaves for theCongo.
But the editor is like whenJennifer again Jennifer goes to
the hotel, the hotel's like he'sgone.
She goes to the newspaperoffice and the editor's like he
left to the Congo already, lady,like I don't know what to tell
(31:36):
you.
And she's like, okay, well, lethim know that I'm looking for
him.
And she calls repeatedly to thenewspaper office.
In the film she doesn't, shejust leaves the letters and
leaves and that's it.
She never sees him again.
Well, until later, which wewill get into but in the book.
She calls consistently and theeditor's always like I don't
(31:56):
know what to tell you.
He's still not back, he's stillnot back.
She keeps calling and beinglike is he back, is he back?
And they keep telling her likeno, he's not back.
And it turns out that theeditor this whole time has been
lying because he.
So after Jennifer leaves thehotel and boots, he said he has
a daughter, that she has adaughter, and he's like well,
she's never going to leave me.
Now he gets like blackoutplastered and the editor saw how
(32:21):
like his reaction to Jennifer.
So he's like no, I'm not, thiswoman is trouble for him, I'm
not going to tell him.
So he lies to Boot and he keepslying to Jennifer to make sure
that they stay apart, because hedoesn't realize at this point
that Jennifer's looking to leaveher husband.
He just sees her as trouble andhe's like I'm going to protect
(32:42):
Boot and I'm not going to letthem be reunited.
So that is why they neverreunite in the book.
So when Ellie Hayworth goes tothe archives and discovers
Jennifer's letters, sheeventually figures out like who
these letters belong to.
So she goes to Jennifer andshe's like I found these letters
.
I just want to ask you aboutthem.
(33:03):
I want to see if you want themback.
And Jennifer's like nope, thatwas a different time in my life.
I want to put it to rest.
I'm not interested in likelooking back on that time in my
life.
Goodbye, leave me alone.
In the book Jennifer is well,she's an open book Like Ellie
shows up and is like can youtell me about the letters?
And Jennifer tells like thewhole story from beginning to
(33:23):
end.
And then Ellie's like well,what happened to Boot?
And that's when she says, oh,he went to the Congo.
I went looking for him.
Like I went to the little Congoto go looking for him and but
at the time, like the war wasreally, really bad and anyone
who was white was like gettingkilled upon sight, and so they
(33:43):
didn't even like she got to theair killed upon sight, and so
they didn't even like she got tothe air not the congo airport,
like she got to whatever airportand that was like her
connecting flight.
And they're like weren't, youcan't fly to the congo, like
there's too much politicalunrest, you're traveling alone.
You're a white woman, likeyou're gonna be killed.
So like no, we're not lettingyou go to the congo and she's
like but I'm really looking forthis journalist and and they're
(34:04):
like well, he's probably dead,so just go back to the UK,
there's no way we can let you in.
So she goes back.
As I said in the film, shedoesn't go looking for him in
the Congo or anywhere and shejust fully relies on the
newspaper office giving theletters to boot.
And again she goes looking forhim because at this point that's
(34:27):
what she was told she has.
Obviously she has no idea thatthe editor is lying.
Like why, like, why would shesuspect that the editor was
lying?
So, yeah, so she, she goes tothe conga looking for him and
she's not able to even get intothe country.
But yeah, like she's so open,she's like happy to talk to
ellie and reveal the whole story.
And in the film, like she's soopen, she's like happy to talk
to Ellie and reveal the wholestory.
(34:47):
And in the film, like she isnot having it, she's like nope,
nope, nope, nope.
So in the film Ellie ends updiscovering who Boot is.
She convinces like, this wholetime Jennifer has kept so the
way they wrote letters to eachother so as not to other, so
Lawrence would never find themis that Jennifer opened a PO box
(35:08):
and Boot would write letters tothat PO box.
And so all these years later,like, jennifer has kept that PO
box open.
So, ellie, after she finds Boot, she convinces Boot to write
one last letter to her and saylike to her and and say, like
I'm I if you're, if you want topick this up.
(35:29):
Even now, all these years later, later, as old people like,
let's do it, meet me in the park.
And she finds the letter andthey do, they reunite in the
park, happy ending.
But it's kind of like ellie doesresearch and finds out where he
is in.
I mean, she does research inthe book too, but it is not this
convenient in the film, like inthe book it is, it's.
It's this convenient in thefilm, like in the book it is,
it's.
It's one of those like wow,what are the odds?
(35:49):
Kind of situation.
So she finds a Philip O'Hare,she finds a contact information
for Philip O'Hare and she writesto him.
He works at a differentnewspaper than she does and
she's like hey, um, philip, um,I don't know if you're the
correct Philip O'Hare, but Ijust want to know.
Like I work at this newspaper.
(36:09):
I'm looking for information onAnthony O'Hare.
Is that your dad?
Can you tell me what happenedto him?
Blah, blah, blah.
And Philip O'Hare gets in touchwith her and he's like what
newspaper did you say you workfor?
And she's like this one.
And he's like, wow, you know,my dad still works at that same
newspaper, right?
And she's like what?
No, he doesn't.
Like I know all the journalists.
And fellow boy is like well, hedoesn't work as a journalist
(36:31):
anymore, he works as the headlibrarian of archives.
So again, what are the oddsthat again this does not happen?
In the film Ellie's like wow,I've interacted with that man.
I had no idea that was Boo.
So that's how she finds out whoBoo is.
And again, same thing.
She tells Boo she still has thesame PO box.
(36:52):
Write hera letter.
And he does.
They reunite in the park.
Jennifer and Boo have a happyending after.
So, after like 40 years, theyfinally get their happy ending.
So this whole time, as I said,ellie has been in a relationship
with a married man and she'skind of like in the hopes that
he's going to leave his wife forher, and obviously that doesn't
(37:14):
happen.
But she ends up getting really,really close to an archivist
who works at the newspaper, ather newspaper by the name of
Rory.
So as she discovers letterslike, she gets closer to him.
They form a friendship.
This also happens in the film.
Um, they form a friendship andeventually they start developing
feelings for each other.
(37:35):
But in the book she's in denialbecause of her relationship
with the married man.
In the film it's because of hercommitment issues that she's
scared of stepping into arelationship with him.
Seeing Ellie I mean seeingJennifer and Boot, and just
talking to Boot, and he's like,don't live your life with
regrets.
Like, if you have feelings forthis guy, like do something
(37:56):
about it.
And so she does.
And then Ellie and Rory alsohave a happy ending.
It is not smooth sailing in thebook for Ellie and Rory.
So he discovers that she's in arelationship with a married man
and he's like, nope, I don'twant drama, I'm not interested
in drama.
I'm also very, very againstcheating, because my
(38:18):
ex-girlfriend cheated on me andthen she said she was remorseful
.
I took her back and she endedup cheating on me again.
So I have no sympathy for youbeing the other woman, no, no.
And so once Ellie discovers whoBoo is, and so before.
Well, she's been havingconversations with the head
librarian.
(38:38):
Again, he doesn't go by thename Anthonyony o'hare, she,
just he has a different name atthis point.
He goes by something else.
So she never puts two and twotogether and so she, as as rory,
like once she and rory havethat fight, he like obviously
distances himself from hercompletely, and so that's when
she kind of turns into the headlibrarian for help.
(39:00):
But she's always asking forRory.
And so Boot, as he gets to knowEllie and he works with her, he
puts two and two together andhe's like I think you have
feelings for this boy.
So when Rory mentions Rory andEllie end up sleeping together
and then the morning after hefinds out about the whole being
(39:20):
with a married man thing, andthen, like the morning after he
finds out about the whole beingwith a married man thing.
So Boot is like Rory mentionslike I'm going on an assignment,
I'm going to be gone for a fewmonths, but like I'm interested
in pursuing this, if you'reinterested in pursuing this too,
and I understand like if youwant to wait until I'm back, but
just I'm interested.
And so she's trying to get moreinformation about, like his
assignment and things like that.
(39:40):
And Boot realizes like wow, sheloved, like she has feelings
for this man.
After she tells him aboutJennifer and like tells him,
tells Boot to write to her, bootsays, okay, and this is where
you can find Rory, if you reallyhave feelings for him.
Like don't let this opportunitypass you by.
Like take it from someone withexperience in this situation.
(40:01):
And she's like, okay.
So then she goes to Rory, sheapologizes, they make up and
that's where the book ends.
So yeah, that was the bookversus the film.
It's really interesting how JojoMoyes basically tells the same
story, but like two, like twosides the same coin.
(40:24):
So, like in Jennifer's instance, like she's the one cheating on
her husband and Ellie is theother woman.
And it's so interesting how Idon't condone cheating in any
shape, way or form.
I just want to make that veryclear.
But, that being said, like theway she writes Jennifer's story,
like you can't help but rootingfor her and Boot to be together
(40:45):
.
And maybe it's because, likeshe's in this loveless marriage
and there's an actual connectionbetween her and Boot, like
you're rooting for them.
And then you get to Ellie'ssection and it's like, oh,
sweetie, honey, pie.
No, like that man's never goingto leave you.
You're just, you're his go-to,like you're his side chick and
that's all you're ever going tobe.
Like don't stay in thatrelationship.
(41:05):
Like don't be the other woman,leave.
So it's like you have like acheating story that you root for
and then you have a cheatingstory that you don't root for.
So it's just interesting.
It's just interesting how JojoMoyes manages to get you to root
for one and not the other.
But I don't condone cheating.
Obviously, I am always team.
(41:26):
If you just realize you don'thave feelings for that person
anymore.
I'm on team.
Divorce or separation Don't putyour partner through that.
But I also understand whyJennifer didn't do that, because
this is during the 60 60s.
Divorce was looked down upon.
She's also an upper class woman.
She's gonna become a socialpariah and she has.
(41:48):
Like she becomes a socialpariah.
Like that means from.
Like her family's gonna disownher.
She's not gonna have anyfriends.
Like there's just a lot more atstake for her.
Um, like the man in the modern,in in the present day, the one
that's with Ellie, like he canleave his wife at any time.
Like it's obviously he's notgoing to.
But it's like don't cheat onyour wife, you asshole, like,
(42:09):
just just leave her and be withEllie.
I know you're not going tobecause you, you want both, but
you know.
So I don't condone cheating,but it's, it's just like.
But I can see Jennifer's pointof view and I still feel bad
that I'm kind of like, I kind ofwant it to work out, but yeah,
so that, yeah, that is just oneof those like interesting things
.
But I do want to make it clearI don't condemn cheating.
(42:30):
Um, please don't.
I have like weird morals orsomething, but anyway, yeah, so
I I just found that reallyinteresting and I do have to
agree.
I like in the film.
I was a lot more invested, Ithink, in both the book and the
film.
I was a lot more invested inJennifer and Boots storyline
than I was with Ellie.
But in the film, like becauseyou're there with Ellie a lot
(42:51):
sooner and she's also not withlike a married man, I think it's
a lot easier to like Ellie inthe film than you do in the book
.
So, yeah, let's get into it.
I mean, I want to say that thefilm is very well acted.
Yeah, I've clearly run out ofsteam, so let's get to the
rating.
I rated the film three and ahalf stars and I rated the book
(43:13):
four stars, so that means thebook is the winner.
Yay, the book is so much betterin this instance and, mind you,
I still really really like thefilm.
It's definitely not like one ofthose things where I read the
book and I was like what is thisfilm?
I was just so surprised at howdifferent they were.
But I think I definitely Istill recommend the film If
(43:35):
you're interested in checking itout, I do still recommend it.
But I think what definitelymakes the book much better than
the film is just how much moredetail we get in the book than
we do in the film.
Like we have moments in whichit didn't get a little too.
Like I said, what are the odds?
This is so convenient towardsthe end of it yes, yes, it did,
(43:57):
but it's still such a great bookand I love how much more
details there were.
We got a lot more details ofJennifer trying to put her life
back together, of Jenniferpiecing this information and
realizing like I don't love myhusband, as opposed to I didn't
love you, did I?
I was gonna leave you, wasn't I?
(44:17):
It just happens so much morefaster in the film and I really
like that.
The book digs into the detailsa lot more and we dig in a lot
more into the details of Ellieas well and I think yeah, I did
like the change that she's moreof a commitment phobe in the
film.
Like I think that's something Ican most people can back up a
(44:38):
lot more than just like he'sgoing to leave me and it's like
no, sweetie, he's not Doyourself a favor and leave.
So I really liked that theymade that change for the film.
But anyway, yeah, check out thebook.
The book is a clear winner forme and I highly highly recommend
the book.
But, like I said, if you'restill interested in checking out
(44:58):
this story and maybe you're notnecessarily interested in
reading it the film is stillreally, really good.
That is it for this episode ofBooks vs Movies and I will see
you next time.
Bye.
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