Letter to a Stranger by Elswyth ThaneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
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.
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4 comments:
I thought I'd read most of her books but haven't read this one! They're not all about crazies. Try starting with Dawn's Early Light (her Williamsburg series) or From This Day Forward, a romance. You won't be sorry!
Ugh, that sounds terrible! I think I'll skip it. :)
good article
I do love her Williamsburg series, but it also does make me nuts for its duality of perception. On the one hand, descriptions of love between friends and family are a model for me. On the other hand, wife-beating does not show love. I think the books get weirder as the series progresses. Also, i can only endure the racism when I see it as an historical artifact.
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