Review: Shadowed Stranger by Carole Mortimer (1982)

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If you read our group post on Monday, the first thing you’re probably wondering is: is there any “stranger” content in this book? Yes, yes there is. 

The set up here is that Robyn lives in a twee English village. A reclusive man moves into the deserted cottage down the lane. He occasionally comes to the local shop for tea, but he mostly keeps to himself; this includes him literally telling Robyn to stay off his lawn the first time they meet. Of course, Robyn does not stay off his lawn, but Reclusive Rick does not tell her anything about himself: why he’s in town, what he’s working on, his real name, nothing.

Despite Rick’s repeated rude behavior—including one scene where he and Robyn argue in his car and he leaves her on the side of the road to make her own way home—Robyn finds herself in love with Rick. Now, I wouldn’t say I bought this as true love. More like: Robyn decides that she loves Rick to be contrary when her father tells her to be careful, and then it kind of sticks in her brain? Rick, for his part, sort of pretends to try to resist this nubile young lady, but mostly just says horrible things to her to rile her up and then grabs and kisses her. Classic. 

Things really get interesting around the midway point, when Rick disappears without a word. Robyn is devastated, in proper 18-year-old first-love form. However, she starts dating a nice new boy after a few weeks, and through this age-appropriate young man, she meets Rick once again. Except this time, his name is Oliver, and he’s with a woman who seems like she’s his wife. 

Now the tables turn, and  Rick decides that he wants to aggressively pursue Robyn to convince her to marry him. Since Robyn (and by extension the reader) assumes Rick to be married at this point, she keeps telling him to leave her alone, which he ignores. I didn’t love this, but I know that there are readers who really like this kind of aggressive courtship dynamic.

I’ve spent a lot of time on plot here, and I think that’s because I don’t really have much to say about the characters. Rick, the eponymous shadowed stranger, doesn’t get less shadowy or strange as the story progresses. (Though I did find the reveal of what he’s writing during his twee village retreat pretty funny.) We see a bit of Robyn’s interior life, but not much—she’s childish and contrary and really young and, uh, works at the library. 

The most interesting piece of this book is the social commentary; there’s a *lot* of stuff here about what it means to have a “boyfriend” and what kind of “girl” is suitable to marry, as well as assumptions about gender roles and what kind of domestic work we can expect a man to do. (The answer, in case you’re curious, is none. Not even a hint of bachelor cookery here.) And in the edition I found—a Harlequin Presents reprint of the British Mills & Boon original—there’s a delightful little note explaining bicycling as a commuting option to the American audience.

When I went to pull the cover for this post, I discovered that Harlequin Presents rereleased this title as an e-book in 2018, with a brand-new blurb that more accurately reflects what happens in the story.

Sidenote: In my opinion, the original Mills & Boon cover art most accurately depicts the vibe of this book, though I do appreciate the grey hair on Rick in the 1982 Harlequin. The 2018 cover is utter nonsense.

I am curious as to whether Mortimer updated anything in the text to reflect changing mores around dating and marriage. From the marketing language on the Harlequin website, it seems like the answer is no. Is this what 21st century readers of Harlequin Presents are still looking for? Or was this a nostalgia read for many readers? The reviews on Goodreads are decidedly mixed. (If there are any megafans of the line, please weigh in! I’m genuinely curious!)

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The 1980s

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Age Gaps