Remember letters? They were good, weren’t they? The thrill of receiving that battered envelope, all the better for the wait . . . In this richly entertaining book, paper geek John O’Connell puts forward a passionate case for the value of letter-writing in a distracted, technology-obsessed world. Drawing on great examples from the past, he shows that the best letters have much to teach us – Samuel Richardson’s ‘familiar letters’; Wilfred Owen’s outpourings to his mother; the sly observational charms of Jane Austen. And in doing so he reminds us of the kind of letters we would all write if we had the time – the perfect thank-you letter, a truly empathetic condolence letter, and of course the heartfelt declaration of love. Was there a Golden Age of Letters? Why is handwriting so important? Can we ever regain the hallowed slowness of the pre-Twitter era? In answering these questions O’Connell shows how a proper letter is an object to be cherished, its crafting an act of exposure which gives shape and meaning to the chaos of life. *** ‘The nib touches the paper. And instinctively I follow the old formula: address in top right-hand corner; date just beneath it on the left-hand side. My writing looks weird. I hand-write so infrequently these days that I’ve developed a graphic stammer - my brain’s way of registering its impatience and bemusement. What are you doing? Just send an email! I haven’t got all night . . .’
If a picture speaks a thousand words, a love letter speaks a thousand more . . . Even in this age of e-mail, faxes, and instant messaging, nothing has ever replaced the power of a love letter. Much the way light displays every color when passed through a prism, love letters express the spectrum of our emotions, offering a colorful glimpse into the soul of the writer, and of the writer's beloved. For passionate readers and lovers of words, a letter is irresistible. Internationally renowned collector David Lowenherz sifted through hundreds and hundreds of historical and contemporary epistles and selected the most ardent, witty, whimsical, sexy, clever, and touching letters for this inspiring collection. Unlike interviews or biographies, these letters give us marvelous insight into the lives of some of history's most famous lovers and provide intimate glimpses into the hearts of some whose fervent or amusing expressions of devotion will come as a great surprise. Zelda Fitzgerald to Scott Fitzgerald Michelangelo Buonarroti to Vittoria Colonna Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart toConstanze Mozart Harry Truman to Bess Wallace Khalil Gibran to Mary Haskell Benjamin Franklin to Madame Brillon Horatio Nelson to Emma Hamilton George Bush to Barbara Pierce Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn Elizabeth Barrett Browning to George Barrett Jack London to Anna Strunsky Marc Chagall to Bella Chagall Ernest Hemingway to Mary Welsh Jack Kerouac to Sebastian Sampas Alfred Dreyfus to Lucie Dreyfus Marjorie Fossa to Elvis Presley Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf to Vita Sackville-West Ludwig van Beethoven to the "Immortal Beloved" Emma Goldman to Ben Reitman Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera Dylan Thomas to Caitlin Thomas Franz Kafka to Felice Bauer Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine Bonaparte Abigail Smith to John Adams John Ruskin to Euphemia Ruskin George Sand to Gustave Flaubert Simone de Beauvoir to Nelson Algren Anais Nin to Henry Miller Voltaire to Marie Louise Denis James Thurber to Eva Prout George Bernard Shaw to Stella Campbell Sarah Bernhardt to Jean Richepin Marcel Proust to Daniel Halevy Frank Lloyd Wright to Maude Miriam Noel Anne Sexton to Philip Legler Elizabeth I to Thomas Seymour Oscar Wilde to Constance Lloyd Katherine Mansfield to John Middleton Maury Charles Parnell to Katherine O'Shea Lewis Carroll to Clara Cunnyngham
We all need love in our lives. Without it, we wouldn't experience happiness, dedication, or determination. We wouldn’t be selfless or kind. Love isn’t just a word, but a feeling, an action … and it’s pure. In this new book titled Letters of Love, 12 inspiring and award-winning authors courageously write their own letters of love. They express the love of themselves to their family, to God, to the world, to those who have passed, and to the people who have shown them, love. Share the authors’ love as they take us on a journey to show the people in their lives and yours what is possible and how much they care. Letters of Love might even encourage you to love beyond measure, show kindness and hope, and be the light in the dark that so many seek. Authors Melissa Desveaux Melysa Aldiano Naomi Beverly Willema Girard Libby Monica Sarah Pridham Rebekah Samuel Veronica Sanchez Kerri-Ann Sheppard Abigail Sinclaire Nor Suhir David Vine Reviews “I absolutely love Veronica’s letter. I think it is exactly what we need, especially in times like these. It makes you realize what are the important things in life, how to cherish them and appreciate them. The secret is in love and appreciation.” - Anna Yaramboykova CEO Kicks Academy Professional Development LTD- London, UK *** "Rebekah’s letter of love touched my heart like no other. Not just because she speaks from a place of deep understanding but because she so directly speaks to MY heart in her words. It brings what the world believes love to be into the light and shares who love is." - Carole Jean Whittington Mind Your Autistic Brain with Social Autie *** "Sarah's letter is moving and inspirational. After going through such unimaginable loss, it is a testament to her strength that she continues to create a lasting legacy for Jasper. Sarah's letter offers a different perspective on grief and how we change after a person we love is gone." - Rhiannon Koch "A meaningful, heartwarming letter written to Melissa's sons. It is so raw, loving & thoughtful, I shed tears in my eyes. Just beautiful.” *** “A beautiful testimony from a loving son to his beloved mother. Such loving words were written for his mum, any mother would be very proud.” - Martina Vassallo *** “When reading this beautiful letter, my heart filled with so much love. It shows how much love a mother has for their child. What an amazing and special letter to this writer’s sons. Something they will cherish forever. A beautiful read.” - Rebecca Riggio *** “This is so relatable! It’s as if Rebekah’s letter was written for me and for you too! You can tell it’s written from the heart with love and meaning. It is such a gift, written with a powerful empowering message. I sat here and cried reading it, it’s amazing and I’d recommend it to anyone because I love it so much!” - Arjaye, Cozy Woodland Cottage Knits *** "This letter is a deep and compassionate expression of the different types of love and challenges of life. It addresses different readers with memories of joy, sorrow, and redemption!" - Sandra Bisson - Miss France 2002 *** An inspiring story for entrepreneurs, as well as anyone recovering from a stroke or a sudden diagnosed debilitating disease - - Nieves M. Pinero, Entrepreneur, Florida, USA, Ladies Rock Worldwide, Crystals and Minerals
A voyeuristic look at modern romance brings together an assortment of actual love letters, written by a diverse cross section of people, that appear exactly as they were originally written, offering candid insights into how people think about love.
Niall Williams's internationally bestselling “delicate and graceful love story . . . a magical work of fiction” (NYTBR), now a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne. Nicholas Coughlan is twelve years old when his father, an Irish civil servant, announces that God has commanded him to become a painter. He abandons the family and a wife who is driven to despair. Years later, Nicholas's own civil-service career is disrupted by tragic news: his father has burned down the house, with all his paintings and himself in it. Isabel Gore is the daughter of a poet. She's a passionate girl, but her brother is the real prodigy, a musician. And yet this family, too, is struck by tragedy: a seizure leaves the boy mute and unable to play. Years later, Isabel will continue to somehow blame herself, casting off her own chances for happiness. And then, the day after Isabel's wedding to man she doesn't love, Nicholas arrives on her western isle, seeking his father's last surviving painting. Suddenly the winds of fortune begin to shift, sweeping both these souls up with them. Nicholas and Isabel, it seems, were always meant to meet. But it will take a series of chance events-and perhaps, a proper miracle-to convince both to follow their hearts to where they're meant to be.
“Dear Ava, I loved your book.” —Award-winning actress Emma Watson For fans of Kathleen Glasgow and Amber Smith, Ava Dellaira writes about grief, love, and family with a haunting and often heartbreaking beauty in this emotionally stirring, critically acclaimed debut novel, Love Letters to the Dead. It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more—though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was—lovely and amazing and deeply flawed—can she begin to discover her own path.
Lily, who has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Abelard, who has Asperger's, meet in detention and discover a mutual affinity for love letters--and, despite their differences, each other.
In Letters of Note: Love, Shaun Usher gathers together some of the most powerful messages about love ever composed, whether inspired by love’s first blush or the recriminations at its ending, the regrets of unrequited feelings and the joys of passions known. Includes letters by: Simone de Beauvoir, Frida Kahlo Georgia O’Keeffe, Zora Neale Hurston Evelyn Waugh, Vita Sackville-West Nelson Mandela, John Steinbeck & many more
Remember the wonderfully romantic book of love letters that Carrie reads aloud to Big in the recent blockbuster film, Sex and the City? Fans raced to buy copies of their own, only to find out that the beautiful book didn't actually exist. However, since all of the letters referenced in the film did exist, we decided to publish this gorgeous keepsake ourselves. Love Letters of Great Men follows hot on the heels of the film and collects together some of history's most romantic letters from the private papers of Beethoven, Mark Twain, Mozart, and Lord Byron. For some of these great men, love is "a delicious poison" (William Congreve); for others, "a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music" (Charles Darwin). Love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII), or penetrate the depths of one's heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert). Every shade of love is here, from the exquisite eloquence of Oscar Wilde and the simple devotion of Robert Browning, to the wonderfully modern misery of the Roman Pliny the Younger, losing himself in work to forget how much he misses his beloved wife, Calpurnia. Taken together, these letters show that perhaps men haven't changed all that much over the last 2,000 years--passion, jealousy, hope and longing still rule their hearts and minds. In an age of e-mail and texted "i luv u"s, this timeless and unique collection reminds us that nothing can compare to the simple joy of sitting down to read a letter from the one you love.
Intimate and unwavering exploration of love, loss, and the queer possibilities inherent in artistic aspiration. Ames Hawkins's These are Love(d) Letters is a genre-bending visual memoir and work of literary nonfiction that explores the questions: What inspires a person to write a love letter? What inspires a person to save a love letter even when the love has shifted or left? And what does it mean when a person uses someone else's love letters as a place from which to create their own sense of self? Beginning with the "simple act" of the author receiving twenty letters written by her father to her mother over a six-week period in 1966, These are Love(d) Letters provides a complex pictorial and textual exploration of the work of the love letter. Through intimate and incisive prose—the letters were, after all, always intended to be a private dialogue between her parents—Hawkins weaves her own struggles with gender, sexuality, and artistic awakening in relation to the story of her parents' marriage that ended in divorce. Her father's HIV diagnosis and death by complications related to AIDS provide the context for an unflinchingly honest look at bodily disease and mortality. Hawkins delicately and relentlessly explores the tensions in a father-daughter relationship that stem from a differently situated connection to queer identity and a shared struggle with artistic desire. In communion with queer and lesbian writers from Emily Dickinson and Virginia Woolf to Alison Bechdel and Maggie Nelson, Hawkins pushes exploration of the self with the same intellectual rigor that she critiques the limits of epistolarity by continually relocating all the generative and arresting creative powers of this found art with scholarly rhetorical strategies. Exquisitely designed by Jessica Jacobs, These are Love(d) Letters presents an affective experience that reinforces Hawkins's meditations on the ephemeral beauty of love letters. As poetic as it is visually enticing, the book offers both an unconventional and queer(ed) understanding of the documentarian form, which will excite both readers and artists across and beyond genres.
