Return of the Stranger

by Reay Tannahill, Vivien Heilbron (Narrator)

Tassie Smith is only a child when a stranger appears on her mothers' doorstep claiming to have inherited the family house and fortune. It emerges that he is her long-vanished brother. But as her own life unfolds, it becomes apparent that there is much more to his brother, and that he has many powerful enemies, not least the man whom Tassie falls in love...

Genres: Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Reay Tannahill was born on December 9, 1929 in Glasgow, Scotland, where she brought up. Her forename was the maiden name of her mother, Olive Reay. She was educated at Shawlands Academy, and obtained an MA in History and a postgraduate certificate in Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow. In 1958, she married Michael Edwardes but the marriage ended in divorce in 1983, he died in 1990. Until her death on November 2, 2007, she lived in a smart terrace house in London near Tate Britain.

Before started to write, she worked as a probation officer, advertising copywriter, newspaper reporter, historical researcher and graphic designer. She published her first non-fiction book in 1964. The international success came with the novel Food in History, her publisher suggested a companion volume on the second great human imperative, Sex in History. For her 2002 revised edition of 'Food in History, she won the Premio Letterario Internazionale Chianti Ruffino Antico Fattore. She also wrote historical romance novels, and in 1990, her novel Passing Glory won in 1990 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. She belonged to the Arts Club and the Authors' Club, and was chairman of the latter from 1997 to 2000.

Reviews

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glorious story written elegantly. I was enthralled by the larger-than-life characters.

[Ahnaleise King-depree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, but did find in parts the plot got a little lost. Felt like chore to get through, but was definitely worth the perseverance in the end.

[Dianna Shimizu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good story that takes place in 1900 Scotland and England.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author but I felt as though this book never really got going and I kept expecting a bigger storyline to emerge.

The plot is quite elementary but I found myself not caring about the minute details as I got further into the book.

Also, although taking place around the year 1900 the dialogue and goings-on feel very contemporary so very odd. The book was published in 1995 and it certainly feels more that era than the 1900s.

I have another book by this author that I will read as I read "A Dark and Distant Shore" of hers which I very much liked but "Return of the Stranger" was a disappointment.

[Palesa Iileka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with so many twists and turns! Loved it.

[Angie Swain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the idea behind the plot was a good one, but it began to lag halfway through. For me, too many times books are too long to sustain the momentum of the original idea and fail because of that.