Letter to a Stranger

by Elswyth Thane

Letter to a Stranger by Elswyth Than in Hardcover.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Thane is most famous for her "Williamsburg" series of historical fiction. The books cover several generations of a single family from the American Revolutionary War up to World War II. The action moves from Williamsburg in later books to England, New York City and Richmond, Virginia.

Reviews

[Jessica Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first fifteen pages or so of this book made me think it was a comedy of manners, but then it shifted into something between a ghost story and a psychological thriller - or what I would call a psychological thriller if the propriety of the Eastern seaboard upper-class white fifties culture in which it takes place didn't keep it from ever becoming anything quite so severe.

To be honest, I felt too much culture shock (I feel weird calling it that, but I think that's what it was) reading this to feel like I can really say how good it was. It was certainly well-written - well-written enough that I want to read another by this author. But I kept wanting to yell at the characters that THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DEAL WITH CRAZY PEOPLE (seriously: you don't go and spend the weekend at the house of an abusive father who thinks you should marry him to heal him from his heartbreak over the death of his neighbor's wife) and that desire to yell at the characters did, I think, interfere with my ability to just sit back and enjoy the book.

But great characterization (I couldn't have been so frustrated with the characters' actions if they hadn't seemed so real) and some of the best-turned phrases I've read in a long time. It does make me want to read more by Elswyth Thane - if only to find out whether or not they're all about crazy people or whether she ever did write the comedy of manners I was hoping for when I started.

[CLM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bestselling author Eve Endicott is intrigued by a fan letter she receives from a dedicated reader and sets out to meet the young woman, with the intention of helping her escape from smothering relatives. Instead, she gets drawn into a complicated situation with the girl's father, Beau Marshall, a talented but domineering artist, and with their neighbor Richie, a recent widower. Soon both Eve and her devoted publisher Tad, who engineered the initial contact with the Marshall, recognize that she needs to extract herself from a friendship that is verging on dangerously emotional and likely to hurt all involved. But by now Eve is unwilling to withdraw because she feels she is somehow connected to Richie's deceased wife who, some would argue, was the only rational person involved in this odd circle of friends. In addition, she now feels she is part of a chain of events and wants to know the outcome.

Although this is a weaker Elswyth Thane, it still has a devoted following.

[Diane Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as her Williamsburg series or Tryst. I did like it, a good little story. Thane has good character development and lovely writing.