Letters Literature

The Letters of Abelard and Heloise is one of the most extraordinary correspondences in European history. Written in the 12th century, the letters document the love affair between Peter Abelard, a revolutionary philosopher and biblical scholar, and his beautiful and precocious student, Heloise. Eviscerated by his religious opponents and castrated by Heloise’s family, Abelard is haunted by ill fortune, and the star-crossed lovers are forced into separate lives, as monk and nun respectively, with letters being their only form of communication.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a classic novel set in Puritanical Boston in the mid-17th century. It tells the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman who is publicly shamed and ostracized for having a child out of wedlock. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her clothing to signify her status as an adulterer.

“Allende is a master storyteller at the peak of her powers.” — Los Angeles Times From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century, the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende (Inés of My Soul, The...

As the Second World War rages on, nurse Kitty Pattison’s life takes a nomadic turn as her work with the Red Cross sees her traversing the country, moving from post to post. With her best friends Jo and Trixie also scattered across the UK, and her soldier sweetheart Michael off on the continent undertaking medical missions he can’t discuss, the war takes its toll and long days are followed by sleepless nights interrupted only by nightmares of what she’s seen on the wards.

Mary is a naive 20-year-old in 1945 when her high school sweetheart, Jack, returns to their small Indiana steel town wounded from World War II and makes her his bride. While Jack struggles to find his place in the world, Mary begins her own journey of self-discovery. As the years and letters unfold, Mary and Jack have five children, including their first-born son, Junior, who is not “right", an issue that contributes to the turmoil in their marriage and impacts their lives in unforeseen ways.

Freedom McGurry loved Ghost like no other. Even though she was nineteen and he was a bit older, broke and trying to trap, she loved him. One night in 2009 causes her to rethink things and she disappears off the face of the earth. She leaves Ghost wondering what ever happened to his love. Liberty, Freedom’s twin, loved her man Pook. After he caught a drug case, she loved him so much that she would have held him down to the end of time. That is, until she sees another woman pregnant with his baby and wearing the same exact ring he had gifted to her.

“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.” Jane Austen at her witty, observant, intelligent, and sympathetic best, in this collection of her letters written to family and friends. Compiled by her niece Fanny Knight’s son Edward Hugessen Knatchbull-Hugessen (the first Baron Brabourne), and edited by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, this collection includes a preface written by the editor and notes from Lord Brabourne. It was originally published in 1892.

Bill Wright’s final evacuation is underway. A route to the bastions in the Pacific Northwest has been mapped out. Supply dumps have been created, and the first batch of evacuees have already departed. For those still waiting to leave, there’s little to do and less to eat, so it was inevitable that some might turn to theft and murder. With spies discovered in their midst, and another attack by the Atlantic pirates imminent, it will take all of Bill’s cunning to prevent this evacuation from becoming a rout. After the outbreak, most people either hid in their homes or fled towards safety.

Henry is once again faced with the possibility of losing the love of his life. While Jenny is lying in a coma, much like his first wife Julean was, Henry struggles with the formidable task of deciding whether to terminate the child Jenny is carrying in her womb or risk delivering the baby at Jenny's peril. He knows only too well what Jenny would want him to do, but the thought of losing Jenny again is unthinkable. The entire gamut of emotions run so high and deep it will be as if you are in the character's skin.

Leanna Chupp has always made her own way in her small community of Birch Creek. Though some may call her unconventional - strange, even - Leanna is passionate about her faith. Her unique outlook on life has meant she's never had many suitors pursuing courtship, but she is happy being single and believes she always will be. But when Roman and Leanna find themselves working together again, everything changes. Neither of them fit squarely within the strictures of the Amish faith, but could their differences be the one thing that helps them?

The pretty little streets of Montmartre are abuzz with a rumour. Apparently a mystery matchmaker, known only as ‘Paris Cupid’, has somehow helped the city’s most famous bachelor find love. But old-fashioned romantic Lilou is staying very quiet. She’d just wanted to set up her best friend, and to get on with her life selling whimsical old love letters, in Paris’s famous St. Ouen market. She hadn’t imagined her little Paris Cupid project could ever have attracted so many people looking for true, heartfelt romance.

Growing up in Singapore, Simran always knew what was expected of her: to learn how to be a good mother and wife. The only problem? Simran has no interest in any of this. After a close escape (almost at the altar!), Simran earns a reprieve to attend the University of Calgary in Canada. Letters exchanged back home to her mother, sister, and friends reveal that no matter which path women take, traditional or independent, life is fraught with conflict, hilarity, and peril.

When Victoria Davies was pushed off her stately home's roof in 2001, all evidence pointed to her husband Michael. But now, 20 years later a letter has appeared, written by Victoria before her death; a letter that was never received, and a letter that brings new suspects into the fray; Labor MPs Shaun Donnal, Andrew MacIntyre, and Charles Baker.

Ne crois pas, ne crois pas, Alfred, que je puisse être heureuse avec la pensée d'avoir perdu ton cœur. Que j'aie été ta maîtresse ou ta mère, peu importe. Que je t'aie inspiré de l'amour ou de l'amitié ; que j'aie été heureuse ou malheureuse avec toi, tout cela ne change rien à l'état de mon âme à présent. Je sais que je t'aime et c'est tout. Veiller sur toi, te préserver de tout mal, de toute contrariété, t'entourer de distractions et de plaisirs, voilà tout le besoin et le regret que je sens depuis que je t'ai perdu. George Sand à Alfred de Musset, Venise, le 15 avril 1834

In this book I have attempted to solve each and every one of life's problems. And I have succeeded. Dear Listener, Using letters, emails, tweets and telegrams I will show you how the things in your life that make you sad, low or anxious can soon appear trivial, insignificant and like a fish. In short, I will butter your parsnips.

Eve and Patrick Gantly are living a normal life in 2019 New York, preparing to celebrate the Christmas season. To their delight, Eve is three months pregnant. Despite their happiness, Eve is having premonitions that something dreadful is about to occur. Concerned about the future and the safety of their child, she insists that they destroy the time-travel lantern.

The extant letters of Pliny, written between AD 97 and 112, give us a unique insight into Imperial Rome under the early Antonine emperors. Organised into 10 books, the letters reflect a wide range of topics, mirroring Pliny’s own public and private interests. Among many other subjects, the letters also include an eye-witness account of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, with the final book containing the exchange of letters between the writer (whose career culminated as Governor of Bithynia) and the emperor Trajan.

Celia Paul's Letters to Gwen John centers on a series of letters addressed to the Welsh painter Gwen John, who has long been a tutelary spirit for Paul. John's reputation was overshadowed during her lifetime by her brother, Augustus John, and her lover Auguste Rodin. Through the epistolary form, Paul draws fruitful comparisons between John's life and her own: their shared resolve to protect the sources of their creativity, their fierce commitment to painting, and the ways in which their associations with older male artists affected the public's reception of their work.

The first set of an extraordinary collection of 10 sets of personal letters written by Lord Chesterfield to his illegitimate son, young Philip Stanhope, then living abroad with his tutor to further his education. His Lordship, later secretary of state, hoped that his son would follow in his footsetps and took endless pains to instruct him on the essential and finer beharioral traits of a the aristocracy, which might lead him to such dizzying heights.

After Jane Austen's earliest known writings, she began a more serious work, Lady Susan, in 1793 or 1794. It is a short, epistolary novel that portrays a woman bent on the exercise of her own powerful mind and personality to the point of social self-destruction.