Written by James Patterson, Sam’s
Letters to Jennifer is a compelling story about a woman named Jennifer who was summoned
back to Lake Geneva, her childhood home, when her
grandmother Samantha had a terrible fall that left her in a coma. She was in her home at Chicago, thinking of a fresh story for her column at the Tribune, when she got the call from the old minister John Farley who was an old friend of Sam. Rushing back to Lake Geneva, she saw Sam in a worse state that forces her to stay a little longer in the place than she had planned. Going back to her grandmother’s place, she found in her old bedroom a stack of
letters addressed to her. The letters tell of her grandmother’s whirlwind romance with a certain Doc while she was still married to her husband, a thing that Jennifer had found as a shock because all her life she knew her grandmother as a devoted wife to her grandfather. While at Lake Geneva, she met Brendan Keller, an old playmate, who was now a doctor. Unlike her though, Brendan was taking a vacation at Lake Geneva. Every morning, he would take a swim by the lake in his usual war cry that would catch Jennifer’s attention. At first, Jennifer did not pay much attention on him but later on, after a companionable sailing that they did, they started going out. They found each other’s company likable and Jennifer even had to admit that Brendan was not only friendly but also handsome. Jennifer told everything that was going on to Sam. She visits often at the hospital and talks to her for hours. She had millions of questions for Sam as she continues to read her letters. She found out that her grandfather had never actually loved Sam but had just married her to spite his father who was actually his uncle. However, they had kept civil to each other. Sam’s affair with Doc was of utmost secrecy that no one had ever suspected her. When her grandfather died, Doc asked her to marry her and she accepted but no marriage took place after that proposal and Jennifer was left wondering what had happened. Jennifer and Brendan fell in love with each other. Brendan’s confession to Jennifer came when he saved Jennifer’s cat from dying by giving it a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Later on, however, Jennifer noticed Brendan’s frequent trips to Chicago. She asked him about it until he admitted that he had a cancer and was dying. The only management for that kind of cancer was an experimental surgery and even so, he still would have 50-50 chances of surviving. Brendan had started showing symptoms. He was losing sensation on half of his face, he was vomiting and was in constant pain and was starting to weaken. All these, he tried to keep from Jennifer. He left Lake Geneva leaving only a very touching letter for Jennifer and his Rolex watch that tells of “quality time”. However, Jennifer decided to go after Brendan and from Brendan’s uncle Shep, she learned that he went to the Mayo Clinic in Chicago to had the surgery. His love for Jennifer was so great that he decided risking himself to an operation and he did survive. Meanwhile, Jennifer had finished reading Sam’s letters. Back at Lake Geneva, Sam had come out of her coma and was awaiting their return. Moreover, she had promised Jennifer to introduce her to Doc. When they got back to Lake Geneva, Sam engaged them both in a bear hug and for the first time, Jennifer met Doc. It was actually John Farley, the minister. She calls her Doc because of her doctor in philosophy but he was not a real doctor. Sam explained that they had married but they chose to keep it from the public to avoid the rumors. Three weeks later, Sam died and she left the house to Jennifer. She and Brendan started a new life in Chicago and had a daughter they named after Sam. If Sam told her story through a letter, they decided to tell their own through a video.