REVIEW: Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon L. Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, Charles Foley

Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon L. Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley

Publisher: Penguin Press

Release Date: November 1, 2007

Source: Personal Copy

Rating: 4 out of 5

For years, little was known about Arthur Conan Doyle’s private life, other than a few basic details.  Recently, his personal correspondence was donated to the British Library.  Jon L. Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley put together his previously unpublished correspondence with annotation to create this large work.  Basically, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters  is just that, Conan Doyle’s correspondence from when he is very young up until is later years.  It was a brilliant experience to have such a vibrant look into such an amazing person’s life.  One of the only complaints I had with this book is that it is difficult to tell when his letters end and the annotation begins.  There are a few instances where bold text will separate the two, but often it is hard to tell the difference between them.

Obviously, this is not a book that one can just sit down and read in a few sittings.  It has actually taken me a few years to get through it because I keep putting it down for a rest and picking it up months later after I have been refreshed enough to hunker down and dedicate some serious time and concentration.  The annotation is well-done, especially by such respected members of the field.  Whenever I had a question about a certain letter, it was most definitely answered within the following notes.  For those of you who would like to move to a more intense version of On Conan Doyle, this is the book for you.