Gentle Strange: Making O

I have to disagree strongly with the reviewer who claimed that this story lacks credibility. In point of fact, it has enormous credibility. In times of loss and grief, people are prone to do things that later they can scarcely believe they did. That is precisely the case in Gentle Stranger when, in the grip of overwhelming sorrow at the loss of her only child, the heroine goes into the arms of a man she doesn't know, seeking comfort and forgetfulness. Given that this book was written almost twenty-five years ago, it was very forward-thinking for the era. As is true of most of Allen's novels, she was dealing with important women's issues at a time when only "literary" novels purported to offer serious perspectives on matters such as rape. In some ways, this novel has a timeless aspect. And it still holds up well, even after all this time.