Love Letters: An Anthology

Ahhh... I adored this elegant, charming volume. Purchased as a valentine gift, I kept it for myself! A number of letters, some unavoidably saccharine- but there is a wide array of experiences: heartbreak, loneliness, warmth, lust, pride abounding. I highly recommend keeping it by the bedside to enjoy with your love!

Antonia Fraser states in her introduction to his volume that it is a highly personal anthology, without any kind of scholarly pretension. She chooses those letters which have touched the heart. And I believe she is not far off when she says the greatest love letters in the English language are those of Keats. She organizes the letters into the following headings: Declarations, Pleas, Rejections, Nature of Love, Total Love, About Letters, Beginnings, Endings, In Brief. There are brief biographical details of the letters' authors at the end of the volume. Though she has selections of three letters from Kafka to Felice Bauer she does not have any of his letters to Milena which I find among the most tormentingly beautiful love- letters of all time. This is a small excerpt of Juliette Drouet's letter to Victor Hugo. "I have left you, my beloved.May the memory of my love follow and comfort you during our seperation. If you only knew how much I love you, how essential you are to my life you would not dare to stay away for an instant, you would always remain by my side, your heart pressed close to my heart, your soul to my soul." Hawthorne said 'Unless the heart is touched we do not begin to be' and some of these letters certainly touch the heart.

Everyone alive should know the joy of receiving a genuine love letter. How the sight of it makes the hand tremble and the heart beat faster, the first breathless reading, the second just to savour. But, as much as love letters can delight, they also have the power to wound. While Cupid's arrow aims straight for the heart, it can bring pain as often as joy. In this beautiful, lavishly illustrated volume, Lady Antonia Fraser has gathered together some of the most beautiful and timeless love letters ever written. She chose them, she tells us, based on her own personal preference, but the reader need have no worries on that score, for Antonia Fraser's taste is, as always, flawless, her style, impeccable. She has chosen the letters that convey the most emotion, those that speak to the heart, from the heart. And, she has grouped the letters according to the emotions they convey. While many of the letters were written by people whose names one cannot fail to recognize, the author has also included poignant letters from lesser known persons. My personal favorite is the passionate letter of John Keats to Fanny Brawne. These tortured letters have achieved almost the same status as Keats' poetry and are among the most moving in the English language. If you love of if you feel unloved; if you seek inspiration or consolation; if you just want to be moved and delighted beyond measure, this is the book for you.

I am lucky to have this book in my library. I thought this would make a wonderful christmas gift for my friends who love to read.Sadly not available.