Dear Doctor Lily

by Monica Dickens

When two young women, Lily and Ida, meet on a flight to America they embark on a relationship that is to see them through two very different marriages and is to bring them comfort and distress, joy and tragedy, in equal measure as the years unfold.

Genres: Fiction, Classics

447 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

From the publisher: MONICA DICKENS, born in 1915, was brought up in London and was the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens. Her mother's German origins and her Catholicism gave her the detached eye of an outsider; at St Paul's Girls' School she was under occupied and rebellious. After drama school she was a debutante before working as a cook. One Pair of Hands (1939), her first book, described life in the kitchens of Kensington. It was the first of a group of semi autobiographies of which Mariana (1940), technically a novel, was one. 'My aim is to entertain rather than instruct,' she wrote. 'I want readers to recognise life in my books.' In 1951 Monica Dickens married a US naval officer, Roy Stratton, moved to America and adopted two daughters. An extremely popular writer, she involved herself in, and wrote about, good causes such as the Samaritans. After her husband died she lived in a cottage in rural Berkshire, dying there in 1992.
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Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two young women, Lily and Ida, meet on a flight to America and embark on a friendship that will see them through two very different marriages, and will bring them much comfort and distress, joy and heartache throughout the years as their friendship unfolds. I have to say that I really loved this book. It was extremely nostalgic for me to read. I give this book an A+!

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two women meet by chance on a plane, and an unlikely but long-lasting freidnship is formed. Interesting people, and quite readable but a bit slow-moving.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t even finish it..poor for MD in my view

[Kate Snow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not her best. Almost a DNF and certainly skip read the last third.

[Mairead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just fine

[Karen Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

[Lesley]

This is just not doing it for me for some reason. Also, I began to realise that I had read it before - probably around the time it came out? - and couldn't remember much about it, except a vague feeling that I hadn't enjoyed it then, either.