When we think of letters, and perhaps especially “last letters,” we think of heartfelt correspondence between people sharing ideas and emotions. We don’t usually think of the board game Scrabble and the letters we use when playing that game. The main characters in “The Last Letters of Sally and Walter” meet at an independent living community when Sally decides to try attending the Scrabble club one evening.

Most clubs meet during the day, so she was a bit intrigued by this club that meets after dinner, when most residents are watching television. But when she shows up, she’s surprised to find only one person there. Walter, waiting with his Scrabble board. Walter, who one of the other residents complained is “a bit intense.” Walter saw her hesitation and said he wouldn’t blame her for leaving, as many others had done when they saw it was just him, but Sally decided to stay and play Walter. That game gives us our first inkling that Walter is not great at interpersonal relationships. He crows when he bingoes (makes a seven letter words which comes with bonus points) and when he is able to use an “X” or “Z” on a triple-letter square.

But Sally learns a lot about Scrabble during that intense game, and although she is soundly routed, she suggests a second game. She still loses, but she plays much better because of things she learned from their first game. As it turns out, Sally is something of a Scrabble prodigy, and she enjoys the mental challenge of the game. Walter is delighted with her prowess and delighted with her, and he decides to tutor Sally so she can attend a tournament with him. And as they play together, they begin to slowly learn about each other.

Over the first half of the novel, we learn a lot about Scrabble and the tournaments, the rules, and great words to use during play. For those of us who play “Words with Friends,” some of these words might be very useful! We learn about Sally and Walter’s first marriages, both ending in the deaths of their respective spouses. Those marriages were far from perfect, as Sally’s husband suffered from depression, sometimes “disappearing” for days or weeks, being there but not really being much of a husband or father. Sally tried to pretend to her children that everything was fine, but it obviously wasn’t. She still hasn’t talked to them about their father’s depression.

She also shielded her children from the rough parts of life. Tying her son Andrew’s shoes until he was in 4th grade, letting him win games that he really lost. McGovern writes, “Only now did she realize what a mistake it had been, ensuring he won every game they played and enrolling him exclusively in activities he could succeed at. He never learned that it was possible to be good without being the best, or that he would improve if he cared about something and worked hard at it.” There’s also the fact that Sally suspects Andrew might be on the autism spectrum. While he’s never been diagnosed, it’s something that she’s thought about, but she’s never broached the subject with him.

Walter’s relationship with his wife and son was awkward. He never knew how to talk to them, and even though he loved his wife dearly, he never knew how to make that clear to her. Even now, he’s at a loss with his son Gavin when it comes to talking about anything. It seems that whatever he says comes out wrong or is taken in the wrong way by Gavin. He thinks of all the things he wants to tell Gavin, but when he’s actually there, with his son, the words don’t come out. And when Walter begins to feel things for Sally, the same thing happens. He thinks of all the things he wants to tell her, but when he’s actually facing her, he chokes up.

Sally also has that problem. She’s not sure if it’s because she spent the last five years of her marriage to her husband “caring for a man who rarely acknowledged her feelings or expressed his own.” So she kept quiet. She swallowed her own emotions and needs because she did what was expected. She cared for a man with whom she had a passionless marriage. And now that Walter is in her life, she still doesn’t know how to open up about the things that are plaguing her life — her grown children who still need help and her medical problems.

Sally and Walter are both senior citizens, and both have physical problems. Sally has Parkinson’s disease, and while at the start of the novel, her symptoms are pretty mild, she knows what the future looks like. It isn’t pretty. She’s supposed to avoid stress, but entering a Scrabble tournament is stressful. Sally does it anyway. Walter has his own issues, including problems with his prostate.

This novel is not filled with action. There is no mystery. There are really no great twists or a surprise ending. What this novel does, and what Cammie McGovern does with all her novels, is to create fictional characters who have special needs, but who also demonstrate that we all have similar feelings. We feel insecure when faced with new situations. We are often wary of sharing personal problems. We find it difficult to grant ourselves grace about mistakes we have made in life. McGovern presents flawed characters, and both Sally and Walter are deeply flawed, especially in their role as parents, parents who slowly change and grow. Because yes, even those of us with gray hair and shaky balance have the ability, and often the desire, to change. To become better people, better parents. To do things that leave the world in a better place than it was.

This is the kind of quiet novel that makes us ponder bigger issues; what would we do differently if we could? Were we the best parents we could have been (and that answer is always “no)? Can we still help our children even if they are adults? And while this touching, beautifully written novel will definitely appeal to those of us with our own gray strands of hair, younger readers will have much to take away from this insightful story about family and parenting. We, none of us, are perfect. But with Cammie McGovern’s inspirational story, we can aspire to be better.

Those who are familiar with Cammie McGovern’s other novels, including her middle grade fiction and young adult fiction (all of which I highly recommend), will not be surprised that in addition to including a character on the spectrum, Sally and Walter advocate for more support for those with disabilities who want to participate in tournament Scrabble but might need accommodations. McGovern, through her novels and in her other work, is a fierce advocate for people and families dealing with disabilities.

This is the kind of quiet novel that makes us ponder bigger issues; what would we do differently if we could? Were we the best parents we could have been (and that answer is always “no)? Can we still help our children even if they are adults? And while this touching, beautifully written novel will definitely appeal to those of us with our own gray strands of hair, younger readers will have much to take away from this insightful story about family and parenting. We, none of us, are perfect. But with Cammie McGovern’s inspirational story, we can aspire to be better.

This review was first posted on Bookreporter.com.