Penelope's letter was a handwritten letter written by Penelope Widmore to Desmond Hume. Penelope hid it in his hardbound copy of Dickens' Our Mutual Friend. ("Live Together, Die Alone") Apparently Penelope understood the significance of this book to Desmond, which he was planning to read just before he believed his life was to end. Therefore the letter was intended as a statement of love and inspiration to be revealed in this deepest moment of despair. Because the book was placed in storage with his personal effects during his incarceration (so that he was not tempted to read the book, and by extension, end his life), he did not discover the letter there.