Ivy Cooper is a 53 year old divorced woman living in New York City with her son, Nicky, who is about nine years old. She is a writer, has many friends, loves Nicky, but her life is not satisfying. Then one night at a dinner party she meets Ansel Fleming. He is a 35 year old musician and has spent seven years in prison for a nonviolent drug charge. What begins a good sex for both of them, slowly evolves into an obsession for Ivy.

Susan Minot is a gifted author who is not duly recognized. Don’t Be A Stranger has wonderful prose, complex characters and there is a descriptive scene of Ivy in the hospital with Nicky that is unforgettable. I could truly feel Ivy’s fear and anxiety.