The Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle both delve into The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved by Judith Freeman in today’s papers. They come away with very different takes:

From Richard Rayner in the LAT:

“The Long Embrace” is an exploration of these two relationships — Ray and Cissy, Chandler and L.A. It is a beautiful and original book, in which Freeman becomes a double detective, telling the story of this strange yet loving marriage while also tracking down and visiting everywhere that the Chandlers lived in Southern California.

From Ben Tarnoff in the Chron:

As Freeman drives around Los Angeles pursuing the trail of the itinerant Chandlers, she breathlessly imagines the lives of the long-departed couple. But the author spends too much time reflecting on her own encounter with the material to offer a vivid portrait of the Chandlers’ life together.

You can read an excerpt here. Also, Freeman will be discussing her book Nov. 10 at Skylight Books and Nov. 26 at Vroman’s.