It is difficult to write a coherent story in journal or letter form. I’ve tried.

One of the biggest difficulties of the form, I think, is authenticity of voice: it is hard to put in the relevant information while still sounding like a letter or a journal entry. People who write letters put certain information in, and leave other stuff out, like what Mother gets like when she drinks, because that information is already shared between them. Journal writers leave stuff out, too, information that is known to them, like what Mother gets like when she drinks. It is managing to convey that information without sounding contrived that is difficult.

This is why the central premise of “Harvey & Eck“, by Ohio writer Erin O’Brien, works so well.

The titular Harvey is Harvest Moon, an unnamed woman who is pregnant and having marital problems. Via regular anonymous letter, which she signs ‘Harvest Moon’, she unloads her troubles on Eck, who she selects at random from the phonebook. Eck, of course, cannot reply, because there is no return address, but he writes letters in return and keeps them in a box.

This scenario allows O’Brien to combine the periodic expository storytelling of the letter with the fulgent insight of the journal, and we are able to watch as each character grows and changes. That they do this without interacting with each other is one of the most interesting things about the book.

In the hands of a less skilled writer, this would not work, but O’Brien gives each character a clear voice. Full disclosure: I know O’Brien. She has been an online friend for some time now, and I know how she talks. Harvey’s voice is often O’Brien’s. It is the voice of Eck, a bookish, closed, constrained librarian, that is remarkable. Emotional truth in writing is difficult enough in one’s own voice: to manage it in a character completely different from your own is remarkable.

The book is funny and sad, desperate and uplifting. It is tough and irreverent and full of life, hope, and love. It is a story of growth that is intertwined without being intertwined, if that makes any sense.

The best writing shows us many things: things that could be, or that should be, or that are, but are hidden. “Harvey & Eck” shows us all of these.

Recommended.