DEAR ELAINE is both luminously beautiful and heart-breakingly sad. Thank you for the gift of her words, as they illuminate her life. The book is also a testament to abiding, sacrifical love. DEAR ELAINE causes all of us to examine our primary relationships in a new way.

A recent reader (unsolicited comment)

I found DEAR ELAINE fascinating, couldn't put it down. One morning at 3:00 a.m. I couldn't sleep so got up to read it. I was amazed when I looked up to realize it was daylight. It was a beautiful story of love, faith and joy as well as sadness.

Another recent reader (unsolicited comment)

DEAR ELAINE is one of the most loving -- and unflinching -- portraits I have ever read by a man for his wife, largely because Robert E. A. Lee lets Elaine speak for herself. With kind eyes and brutal honesty, Elaine describes the exhaustion that comes in raising a large family, her struggle with addiction, depression and declining health.  Yet what is most keenly felt in these pages is Elaine's rich inner life and the force of her love. In these pages I am reminded that love, despite inevitable loss, may be the most daring act of all.

Camille Thomasson, Screenwriter

DEAR ELAINE is beautifully and candidly written. What an emotional rollercoaster her life was! There is a mysterious quality to the Elaine-Marla relationship. It works on several levels: the intense friendship, the letters between two women, the author’s reflection on their relationship, and of course the multiple problems… I laughed, I cried and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

Susan Bram, Ph.D., Psychologist, New York City

DEAR ELAINE is a testimony to all that is contained in those promises “to love and to cherish” until parted by death. Their story reminds me what a good Christian marriage should be. Bob and Elaine loved one another through all the stresses that came their way. His devotion to her—lively, talented, and complex as she was—shines through on every page.

Dr. H. George Anderson, former Presiding Bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

DEAR ELAINE is an invitation to make friends with a remarkable woman. Many voices draw us into Elaine's life. Her own resonates in letters to a friend as gifted and passionate a correspondent as she. Her husband's voice provides the continuo, recounting the story of events and emotions. Love is alive in this book from beginning to end. As Elaine struggles with depression, self-doubt, and illness during the last years of her life, those who live with and care for her discover that what they have shared with Elaine has made both her life and theirs more precious.  Those who read this wonderful story will understand why.

Mary M. Solberg, Ph.D., Theologian, Gustavus Adolphus College