is a clever, but fabricated narrative". Another review from The New Republic, published "were 'Christine' genuine, it would be impressive". The style of writing in the first letter forces the reader to question the intended audience. Throughout the first letter 'Christine' sets up the scene explaining her background; something one would not expect an individual to do when writing home to her mother for the first time; especially if she is writing in a hurry before she unpacks. Also, while Arnim might have gone to great lengths to keep her identity secret, some suspected her as the one writing the letters, "in style and feeling 'Christine' reminds one strongly of 'Fraulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther' and other works of the Baroness von Arnim". (Athenaeum London, Book Review Digest 1917). Another aspect that made Christine unbelievable was the level of awareness for individuals in each German social class. "The letters thus show four different classes of people--the middle-class inhabitants of the boarding house; the well-to-do country folk, the artistic set, and the aristocratic Junker set; each one of these different sets, its opinions and manners and point of view, we see through the medium of these letters". This was an unlikely perspective to be found in letters written for her mother by a girl who grew up poor. Another review of Christine by the Boston Transcript remarked that "it is not often that a collection of letters intended for no eyes but those of a beloved mother turns out to an amazingly accurate revelation of the real, hidden nature of a great people," (Boston Transcript Book Review Digest 1917). References Literature "A luminous story: absorbingly interesting" [Review of the book Christine]. New York Times, Aug. 12, 1917. Retrieved from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851–2005). "A new novel by a new author" [Review of the book Christine]. New York Times, July 29, 1917. Retrieved from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851–2005). "Arnim, Mary Annette [May] von. (n.d.)." Retrieved October 27, 2008 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Bitzer, Lloyd F. "Political Rhetoric." Handbook of Political Communication. Eds. Dan D. Nimmo and Keith R. Sanders. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1981. 225-248. Book Review Digest. H.W. Wilson Company: New York City, 1917, 13, 101-102. Cholmondeley, Alice. Christine. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1917. 1-250. Doob, L. (1950). "Goebbels' Principles of Nazi Propaganda" The Public Opinion Quarterly 3, 14(3), 419-442.