Vanessa Banton | Sincerely yours: Learning to love the pen and hand-written letters again

Vanessa Banton reflects on the power of hand-written letters after a watching a series in which a young boy corresponds with a penpal. 

As a fan of Simon Baker (he of The Mentalist fame) I couldn’t pass up a chance to watch him again in the Boy Swallows Universe although his character as an alcoholic father is a little darker in this series.

For those who haven’t watched it, it is set in the 1980s in Brisbane, Australia, and tells the story of a young boy, Eli Bell, whose dysfunctional family life, which involves a drug-dealer stepfather, a junkie mom and mute brother is torn further apart by a drug lord. Besides being sometimes babysat by an ex-convict, Bell often corresponds with a pen-pal who is a prisoner named Alex. Alex counsels Bell on staying in school and getting good grades.