Letter to a Stranger [Hardcover]

Elswyth Thane (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (June 1, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0884119548
• ISBN-13: 978-0884119548
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,103,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 1950's Nostalgia, March 29, 2002

By 

Mater Lea (WDC Area, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letter to a Stranger (Hardcover)

Letter to a Stranger was published in 1954 and is completely contemporary to that time. To me, Elswyth Thane's non-Williamsburg books read like screenplays, and this one more than any other.

Story: a young woman (the gentle, unfurled bud, Joanna) writes to a famous author, Eve Endicott (is that name 1950's or what?!), and bemoans the rigid, confined existence imposed upon her by her autocratic, irrational father. Eve Endicott writes back and is quickly drawn into Joanna's life.

There are three possible heroes to Eve's heroine (no spoilers here :) ). The story flits from mid-Manhattan to moneyed Connecticut neighborhoods, replete with cocktails, supernatural speculation, and smooth cars. There are a few comic, touching, and romantic moments laced through the plot. Picture Cary Grant, Ray Milland, Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, and any ingénue type. That's the time period. Tryst, this book is not. The profound commitment, the passion, the sustained devotion that are Thane trademarks are not here, but Letter to a Stranger is an interesting rounding out of the Thane collection.