Very, very good!! Starts off with a bang... a nerve-wracking walk through impenetrable London fog!

This story is about two roommates, Nell and Barbie. Barbie has been very ill and fallen into such a deep depression that she's not well enough to leave the hospital. Meanwhile, the London fog is reaching practically fatal proportions, and terrible for invalids. Nell, who works for a doctor, makes arrangements to have Barbie sent to her aunt's house in the country. Barbie starts to regain her health and spirits. Meanwhile, her aunt's stepson enters the picture and seems determined that he and Barbie are engaged. Barbie is on the fence about it. At the wedding of a neighbor, she meets an attractive stranger. In the second half of the book, she returns to London to pick up her job as an interior decorator. Her next job involves a castle in Scotland, where she goes as a guest for several days.

I'm purposely leaving out many details, but this is an excellent D.E. Stevenson, where she is really at her best. Nell and Barbie seem like awesome roommates who really "get" each other even though they're different. Barbie's aunt Amalie and her companion/housekeeper are delightful as well. ( )

Barbie France is a talented interior designer who has suffered a serious illness that has left her weak and depressed. She is sent to convalesce at her childhood home with her aunt. While there, she renews her acquaintance with her aunt's stepson, Edward, who is determined to marry her. But in the meanwhile she has met the tall stranger of the title and feels a strong pull towards this unknown man. By the end of the story, her romantic dilemma and several other loose ends in her life, including the happiness of her best friend and a neglected neighbor child, are all neatly sorted out.

This is a gentle and mostly lighthearted romance with a happy ending. It is similar in feel to other works by the author such as Charlotte Fairlie, or Katherine Wentworth; it lacks the sparkle of Mrs. Tim or Miss Buncle. ( )