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This emotionally gripping novel blends Mary Roberts Rinehart's two fortes—mystery and romance. When a mysterious stranger who calls himself 'K' enters her life, nurse-in-training Sidney can sense that he's running away from something. But before she can learn more about his tragic past, the pair find themselves falling hopelessly in love. Can their romance transcend his troubles?.
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18-year-old Sidney Page is eager to break free of the Street that defines her life. Taking in a boarder with a mysterious past gives her the freedom to enter nurse's training. She can live in the nurse's quarters knowing that the reliable K. LeMoyne is looking after things at home. K. is both encouraging and protective in his friendship with Sidney. Soon everyone on the street begin to turn to K. in a crisis. Meanwhile, Sidney catches the eye of handsome young surgeon Dr. Max Wilson, younger brother of the doctor who lives across the Street from Sidney. Will Sidney's love for Wilson survive the revelation that her hero has clay feet?
This 100-year-old romance is very much a product of its time. The social structure that is so important show more in the novel no longer exists. While this is a didactic novel, the tone is not “preachy”. Both K. and Sidney exhibit sympathy for others, particularly women, who break the moral code of the street, such as the middle-aged spinster in love with a married man unable to divorce his insane wife. The characters and plot are forgettable. Readers wishing to learn about social life in a lower middle class neighborhood of a century ago will get the most out of this book. show less
This 100-year-old romance is very much a product of its time. The social structure that is so important show more in the novel no longer exists. While this is a didactic novel, the tone is not “preachy”. Both K. and Sidney exhibit sympathy for others, particularly women, who break the moral code of the street, such as the middle-aged spinster in love with a married man unable to divorce his insane wife. The characters and plot are forgettable. Readers wishing to learn about social life in a lower middle class neighborhood of a century ago will get the most out of this book. show less
K. is not one of Ms. Rinehart's classic murder mysteries. There are mysteries, yes, but no deliberate murder.
4840. K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (read 14 Jul 2011) This 1915 book was No. 5 on the 1915 best seller list. It is a soupy simple book--not a mystery, as I had expected--laid in about 1913 , telling of Sydney and her social life. The title of the book suggests who she ends up with, but for most of the book she does not appreciate the merits of K. Le Moyne, who is a roomer in her home. I thought the writing poor and the plot creaky, One should look on it as a means of seeing what popular fiction was like before World War One.
Early 20th century view of women's place in medicine and the courting game. Divorce was not an option.
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Author Information
142+ Works 8,211 Members
Mary Roberts Rinehart was born in the City of Allegheny, Pennsylvania on August 12, 1876. While attending Allegheny High School, she received $1 each for three short stories from a Pittsburgh newspaper. After receiving inspiration from a town doctor who happened to be a woman, she developed a curiosity for medicine. She went on to study nursing at show more the Pittsburgh Training School for Nurses at Homeopathic Hospital. After graduating in 1896, she began her writing career. The first of her many mystery stories, The Circular Staircase (1908), established her as a leading writer of the genre; Rinehart and Avery Hopwood successfully dramatized the novel as The Bat (1920). Her other mystery novels include The Man in Lower Ten (1909), The Case of Jennie Brice (1914), The Red Lamp (1925), The Door (1930), The Yellow Room (1945), and The Swimming Pool (1952). Stories about Tish, a self-reliant spinster, first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and were collected into The Best of Tish (1955). She wrote more than 50 books, eight plays, hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and special articles. Three of her plays were running on Broadway at one time. During World War I, she was the first woman war correspondent at the Belgian front. She died September 22, 1958 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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MARY ROBERTS RINEHART Ultimate Collection: Murder Mysteries, Thriller Novels, Travel Books, Essays & Autobiography: The Circular Staircase, The Bat, The ... the King, Sight Unseen, The Confession, K… by Mary Roberts Rinehart
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- K.
- Original title
- K.
- Original publication date
- 1915
- People/Characters
- K. Le Moyne; Sidney Page; Max Wilson; Carlotta Harrison; Harriet Kennedy; Grace Irving (show all 8); Palmer Howe; Joe Drummond
- Related movies
- K - The Unknown (1924 | IMDb)
- First words
- The street stretched away north and south in two lines of ancient houses that seemed to meet in the distance. The man found it infinitely inviting. It had the well-worn look of an old coat, shabby but comfortable. The thought... (show all) of coming there to live pleased him. Surely here would be peace -- long evenings in which to read, quiet nights in which to sleep and forget. It was an impression of home, really, that it gave. The man did not know that, or care particularly. He had been wandering about a long time -- not in years, for he was less than thirty. But it seemed a very long time.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Sidney, on her knees in the little parlor, repeats the words with the others. K. has gone from the Street, and before long she will join him. With the vision of his steady eyes before her, she adds her own prayer to the others -- that the touch of his arms about her may not make her forget the vow she has taken, of charity and its sister, service, of a cup of water to the thirsty, of open arms to a tired child.
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- 106
- Popularity
- 306,871
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.22)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 48
- ASINs
- 14
