Don't Forget to Write: A Novel

Don’t Forget to Write is a 2023 romance novel by American author Sara Goodman Confino. Confino has written several novels in the romance and literary fiction genres, the most famous of which is 2022’s She’s Up to No Good. In Don’t Forget to Write, Confino explores a summer in the life of Marilyn Kleinman, a young Jewish woman who is sent to live with her great-aunt, a matchmaker, after she causes a scandal. The book explores romance, Marilyn’s desire for independence, and the life paths open to women in 1960. Don’t Forget to Write received mostly positive reviews.

This guide refers to the 2023 Lake Union Publishing e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss racism, anti-gay bias, miscarriage, and death. They also briefly mention the Holocaust.

Plot Summary

Twenty-year-old Marilyn Kleinman attends synagogue with her parents during her summer break after her first year of college. It is 1960. Partway through the service, she and Daniel Schwartz, the rabbi’s son, sneak out and meet in the rabbi’s office. They kiss but end up falling through a stained-glass window in front of the whole congregation. The Kleinmans and the Schwartzes are extremely embarrassed. They try to pressure Daniel and Marilyn into marrying to mitigate the scandal, but Marilyn refuses. To reform her, her parents send her to Philadelphia to spend the summer with Ada Heller, Marilyn’s great-aunt. Ada has worked as a matchmaker for 40 years, setting up young couples. Marilyn cannot return to college unless she mends her ways. 

Reluctantly, Marilyn travels to Philadelphia. A young Black man named Thomas meets her at the station. He is training to be a doctor, and he does odd jobs for Ada. Ada is 75 years old but is very fashionable and looks younger. She is also very strict, placing harsh restrictions on what Marilyn can do: She cannot date anyone, borrow Ada’s things, or wear red lipstick. Instead, she has to help with Ada’s matchmaking business, which sometimes involves persuading young men to agree to go on dates with young women looking for husbands. One of the men she meets, Freddy Goldman, is especially handsome and charming. Ada’s usual companion, Lillian Miller, is away because her mother is dying. 

Marilyn wonders why Ada never married, given how good she is at arranging matches. Ada shows Marilyn some of the sights in Philadelphia, and one day, Marilyn meets a young woman her age named Shirley. Ada disapproves of the friendship, as Shirley comes from a family of social climbers. Before they leave for the Jersey Shore, where Ada spends her summers, Ada buys Marilyn a new wardrobe of chic clothes. They drive down to the small beach town of Avalon, where Ada owns an oceanside cottage. Marilyn meets Freddy again on the beach. He is unwilling to date any of the girls whom Ada has set him up with because he wants to date Marilyn. She gently rebuffs him. She meets Shirley again at the grocery store and accepts a dinner invitation. At dinner, Marilyn is surprised to learn that Freddy and Shirley are siblings. Despite her misgivings, Marilyn kisses Freddy when he walks her home, and the two start a secret affair.

Ada gifts Marilyn a typewriter, as she loves to write. Ada wants her to be more serious about it, so Marilyn starts to write a novel based on her love affair with Freddy. Freddy wants Marilyn to marry him, but she dreads the stifling life that she will lead as a housewife. Lillian’s mother dies, so Ada leaves Marilyn alone in Avalon to go and help her with the funeral arrangements. While she is gone, Marilyn enjoys having more freedom to spend time with Freddy, though she struggles with increasing tension in their relationship. Not long after Ada returns, Shirley tells Marilyn that Freddy is engaged. A woman he was dating before he met Marilyn is pregnant. Freddy tries to persuade Marilyn to marry him instead, but she refuses. Ada learns about Marilyn’s affair with Freddy and insists that she stop helping with the matchmaking. Instead, she has Marilyn sort through her old photographs and put them in albums chronologically, which Marilyn enjoys.

Ada reveals that she was engaged when she was Marilyn’s age. She and her fiancé were friends whose parents wanted them to marry, but he died in a fire. She reveals that Marilyn’s mother, Rose, spent a summer with her once when she was young and pregnant out of wedlock. She miscarried and married Marilyn’s father, Walter, shortly thereafter.

One day, Daniel arrives in Avalon. He cannot stop thinking about Marilyn and still wants to be with her, whether or not they get married. Although she is initially hesitant, Marilyn soon finds herself falling in love with Daniel, though she does not know what their future together might look like. Lillian arrives, and Marilyn immediately dislikes her for taking up too much of Ada’s attention. She suggests to Ada that she fire Lillian and let Marilyn be her companion instead, but Ada vehemently refuses. Marilyn gradually warms to Lillian, who has a great affection for Ada. The two first met 40 years ago when they were nurses during World War I.

Daniel’s parents want him to become a rabbi, but he wants to be a photojournalist, just like Marilyn wants to be a writer. Ada admits to Marilyn that she has been in love twice, and the first time was with Thomas’s grandfather. They could not be together because of racist laws and prejudices at the time, but they remained friends. Marilyn’s parents write and tell her that she can return to college in the fall, but she must live at home. She has to leave Ada’s house immediately. Marilyn is distraught, as she would rather stay with Ada and Lillian, but she has no choice. Marilyn finishes writing her book, and her mother approves of the project. She and Daniel get engaged so that they can see each other sometimes, but their parents insist that Daniel attend rabbinical school and that they marry in the spring, which upsets them both. 

Lillian calls to tell Marilyn that Ada has died suddenly. Marilyn goes to Lillian to help her prepare for the funeral. Ada’s lawyer arrives and tells Marilyn that she has inherited almost everything, making her incredibly wealthy. She can now live her life as she wishes, and she and Daniel can be together without the pressure of marrying. Their families disapprove but eventually agree to give their blessing. Ada’s will asks that she be cremated and that Marilyn scatter her ashes alone. When Marilyn opens the urn, she finds a photograph and a note instead of ashes. The photograph is of Ada and Lillian at a house in Key West, where they have absconded to live as a couple without scrutiny, revealing that Ada faked her death. The note asks Marilyn to keep in touch. Marilyn and Daniel plan to visit Key West immediately.