Letters of a Traveling Architect
By Kristen Alger
Published by Four Walls Press
In Letters of a Traveling Architect, Kristen Alger chronicles a year in the life of Levi Geniesse, a young twenty-something architect who took what we’d now call a “gap year” to backpack around France and Italy, among other countries in Europe, in 1925 and 1926.
The Notre Dame graduate left behind a collection of photos, postcards, notebooks, and letters he wrote to (and received from) Chloe, the Protestant girl he’d befriended while living in Washington, DC. Both of them wanted to be more than friends, but found faith to be an obstacle to romance.
Levi was the grandfather of the author’s husband, and Alger became the family historian, collecting the letters and photos, interviewing surviving relatives to get more insight into some stories, and putting all the materials in order.
A Story Told Through Letters and Drawings
When Levi left behind his family in Wisconsin and friends in DC to head to Europe with two buddies to explore centuries-old architecture in search of the “perfect cathedral design,” the only way he had to reach his parents, siblings, or almost-girlfriend was by letter. His mail would be delivered to various American Express offices in European cities, and he’d stop there to pick up any letters awaiting him.
Weeks would pass between the writing of a letter and the receipt of a response, which made Alger’s task of sorting out the timeline of the story and telling it in a cohesive way even more challenging.
But the letters, notebooks, and other items leave behind a surprisingly detailed story of a year of self-directed study, with lots of time on trains, bicycles, or footpaths to ponder next steps, both professional and personal. This book offered fascinating insight into the lives, faith, and aspirations of young college graduates a century ago.
Who Will Enjoy This Book?
Anyone with an interest in architecture, early 20th-century history, travelogues, epistolary novels, and slice-of-life stories will enjoy this book. The Notre Dame connection was a bonus for me, as a grad-school alumna.
A Note About the Book’s Format
While I usually prefer to read novels on my Kindle (and my husband prefers it too, because it cuts down on the piles of books all over our home), I’m glad I elected to read a print copy of this book. The oversized paperback is really thick and heavy, at more than 550 pages, but it’s packed with drawings, postcards, and photos of people and places featured in the novel. There’s no way a small Kindle screen could do justice to all of that.
The cover design of the print edition is a delightful nod to the bound academic journals Levi would have been familiar with as a university architecture student.
Purchase Letters of a Traveling Architect from Amazon.com.
Copyright 2026 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images: (top) copyright 2026 Barb Szyszkiewicz, all rights reserved.
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