Virginia's Reviews > Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us

This was clearly a fun writing prompt for a large number of people: write a letter to a person who crossed your path at some time, who made their presence felt and has never quite faded into the past. I could write a book about my impressively memorable strangers (but I won't, I know me.) Of course I found it uneven, as collections like this usually are, but most - with the exception of one surprisingly racy encounter - were fun, surprising and/or moving, and a couple encouraged me to search out those particular authors' other work. It wasn't a surprise to me that many, if not most, of the stories took place in Europe or Asia, as if the writers chose to remember the exotic rather than the domestic strangers they've met and interacted with. To be fair, many of the stories involved strangers actually helping, feeding or protecting the writers in ways that might not have been necessary closer to home.
My absolute favourite of all the stories was "To the Woman Who Spared Me an Orange" by Sarah Menkedick, that begins "I was scared of everything then." Other favourites were by Monet Patrice Thomas, Maggie Shipstead, and Amber Meadow Adams, all striking in their sincerity and willingness to share what felt like their true selves with the reader. Looking forward to maybe a new collection of letters some day. 4 stars