Rosemary Wells Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Jane Abramson

Critical Essay by Jane Abramson

[In Leave Well Enough Alone] Dorothy is … left on her own to decide the most moral course of action. Although the mystery is contrived and confusing at times with too many false or oblique clues, the characterizations are superb, especially Dorothy's "martyred" older sister who, at 20, is saddled with a baby and bunions; and, of course, Dorothy, herself, caught squarely between her Catholic conscience and ambitious nature. Wells' finest novel yet, this raises thorny ethical questions and discusses them compellingly and with great humor. (p. 73)

Jane Abramson, in School Library Journal (reprinted from the May, 1977 issue of School Library Journal, published by R. R. Bowker Co. A Xerox Corporation; copyright © 1977), May, 1977.