Originally published in the U.S. in 1938 to critical and popular acclaim, Address Unknown is the epistolary story of two friends torn apart by political extremism. Weighing in at a mere 96 pages, this novel-in-letters is as relevant now as it was when Kathrine Kressmann Taylor released it to the world, the year before Hitler invaded Poland. This new edition also acknowledges the full name and sex of the author for the first time, as Address Unknown was initially published under the gender-neutral pseudonym Kressmann Taylor.
It is the story of two German friends, Max Eisenstein and Martin Schulse, who co-own an art gallery in San Francisco but are separated when Martin returns to Munich with his family in the fall of 1932. Their correspondence is initially warm and chatty, with playful asides to the questionable artistic tastes of their clients and homey descriptions of family life. But the tone darkens quickly when Adolf Hitler comes to power in early 1933. As a Jew, Max is alarmed and questions Martin about conditions in Germany. Martin's early ambivalent replies reveal his wait-and-see attitude about the extent of Hitler's aims. As the months go by, the correspondence devolves chillingly until an unforgivable betrayal by one of them is revealed--and the power of the pen is cleverly and fiercely mobilized by the other. Bookended with an introduction by Margot Livesey and a poignant afterword by the author's son, Charles Douglas Taylor, Address Unknown reintroduces readers to a forgotten classic by a truly prophetic writer. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver, Colo.