Epistolary Novel

An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters exchanged between its fictional characters, a form whose name derives from the Greek word for letter; the term is often extended to novels that mix letters with other documents, such as diary entries and newspaper clippings, and more recently with electronic forms including emails, blog posts and recordings. The form is also known by the German term Briefroman. Because its text exists diegetically within the characters' own lives, the epistolary form can lend a story a heightened sense of realism and allows differing points of view to be presented without recourse to an omniscient narrator, an effect often reinforced by the device of a fictional editor who frames or compiles the letters to create the impression of authenticity.