800 Years of Women's Letters (Biography, Letters and Diaries)

by P. D. James (Foreword), Olga Kenyon (Editor)

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $3.75

  An anthology of women's letters, studying the tradition of female letter-writing from the 12th century to the present. One of the few allowable forms of written expression open to women until the 18th century - even Jane Austen at first pretended her drawing-room scribbling was letters rather than the novel she was really working on - these private letters detail their daily lives, their sorrows and joys, small achievements, and the great rites of passage of birth, death and marriage. Both entertaining and informative, this study provides an insight into past women's lives and should be a valuable historical resource, in particular for historians and those interested in women's studies.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $6.59

  This comprehensive study of women's letters is organized by subject matter and covers a wide range of topics from politics, work and war, to childhood, love and sexual passion. It reveals the depth, breadth and passion of women's lives through the ages. Here Heloise writes to Abelard of her undying devotion. Vita-Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf correspond about life and writing. Queen Victoria complains to Robert Peel about the neglect of Buckingham Palace. Many more women write letters which reveal the compassion, humour, love and tenacity with which they confront the often difficult circumstances of everyday life.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1998

  $4.68