A Letter from Norman

A Letter from Norman

A Letter From Norman (ノーマンからの手紙) is the first light novel written by Nanao (七緒), based on The Promised Neverland Manga written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu. The novel is about Norman reflecting on the good times he spent with his siblings in years prior on the day he is shipped out. Apart from the Prologue, each chapter is set before the Introduction Arc.

A Letter from Norman was first published on June 4, 2018 in Japan under Shueisha's Jump j-Books.

It was announced that a sequel spinoff novel is set to be published on 4 January 2019 alongside Volume 12 of the manga. The sequel is titled "Moms' Song of Remembrance".

The novel is currently only officially available in Japanese, Chinese, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, and Polish. An official English translation of the novel is yet to be released.

Synopsis
Norman wrote a letter to guide the escape from Grace Field on November 3, 2045, which is his shipment day. As he writes, he reflects on happy memories he spent with Emma and Ray years prior.

Prologue
On the day of his shipment, Norman writes down his escape plan for Emma whist reminiscing on happy memories from his childhood with Yvette.

A Ghost at Grace Field House
In 2038, 4-year-old Emma, Norman, and Ray investigate sightings of a ghost at Grace Field House.

The Day Emma Cried
In 2041, 7-year-old Norman gets sick and Emma tries to find a cure.

The Bird in a Cage
In 2044, on the day before Susan's shipment, 9-year-old Emma rescues an injured baby bird that they name NER (after the first letters of Norman, Emma and Ray's names) and cares for it with help from Norman, Ray, and Susan.

A Gift from the 39th Girl
In March of 2045, on the days before his 11th birthday, Norman spots a girl he has never seen before on the property of Grace Field House. After strange things start to happen around the house, Norman sets out to discover who this mysterious girl really is.

Inconsistencies with the manga

 * In the novel, it is revealed that a child named Cindy was living at Grace Field House Plant 3 in 2045. But in the manga, no child by that name is present at the house in that year. However, a toy with Cindy’s name written on it is seen in Isabella's secret room in chapter 17 of the manga, suggesting that she once lived there.
 * In the novel, it is revealed that Jimmy was shipped days after Emma's 9th birthday, which was in August 2043 and he was also shipped only one week before Susan. However, we know from this image that Susan was the 6th child shipped before Conny. We know from the novel that Jimmy was the child shipped before Susan, making him the 7th child shipped before Conny. If each plant at Grace Field ships out 5-6 kids a year and one roughly every two months then that means Jimmy and Susan would have been shipped in mid 2044. Basically, there is no way for Jimmy to be shipped days after Emma’s 9th birthday in August 2043 AND be shipped only a week before Susan who, doing the math, would have been shipped in late August or early September 2044. The timeline does not add up.

Trivia

 * The cover of the novel is one of the many fisheye illustrations done by Posuka Demizu. Other fisheye illustrations done by the latter include:


 * The story is written in Norman's perspective.
 * Norman writing his letter to Emma could be seen in a flashback scene in Chapter 34 of the manga, as he used a piece of paper from Yvette's sketchpad to write on.
 * Norman's shipping date from Grace Field House is on November 3, 2045. Which all happened in Chapter 30 of the manga.
 * There are at least eight known orphans who were older than Emma, Norman and Ray: Olivia, Michelle, Susan, Marcus, Robert (two years older) and Helena and Abby (one year older). Kate is also confirmed to be older than Emma, Norman and Ray, but it is unknown by how much.
 * In a Q&A with Kaiu Shirai, it was revealed that Olivia and Michelle are the two girls who were shown in the Christmas Omake Chapter 21.5.


 * Ray is not a superstitious person unlike most of the other orphans in Grace Field, as he do not believe in the existence of ghosts.Citation needed
 * Ray revealed how all the books he had read are fantasy books, thus implying how fantasy is his favorite genre of books.
 * The Season 1 end credits song, Zettai Zetsumei, depicts still frames of various scenes from this novel, including Olivia reading a book to the younger kids, the older children playing ball in the field, Robert playing piano and Susan's shipment.
 * In Shounen Jump's 2nd popularity poll results announced in Chapter 102, NER is in 36th place.
 * At 260 pages, A Letter from Norman is the longest light novel for The Promised Neverland.