Comments on: Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls.

Question: Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls.

peacrow — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:11:11 -0800

Help me find letters written between close female friends.

I am looking for historic (pre-WWII) examples of on-going correspondence between female best friends. Ideally, I'd like to be able to read the letters between both parties, but I'm also interested if only one side is available. Letters from famous and non-famous people alike, but I am not interested in fictionalized correspondence.

Are there any books or websites where I can read such letters? Even biographies that devote part of the book to these types of letters would be great. Thanks!

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:13:58 -0800

These are sisters rather than friends (sort of both) and they both predate and include WWII but there's the Mitford Sister letters.

By: BibiRose

BibiRose — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:18:29 -0800

Check out Nina Sankovitch's website plus Facebook and Twitter feeds. You could probably even email her for suggestions.

By: matildaben

matildaben — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:45:30 -0800

My husband loved the letters between Julia Child and Avis de Voto http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007F7QSES/ref=mp_s_a_1?pi=SL75&qid=1350398606&sr=8-1

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:46:17 -0800

A Season in New York, 1801: Letters of Harriet and Maria Trumbull

By: Monsieur Caution

Monsieur Caution — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:49:34 -0800

Maybe Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickock, unless you want it to be absolutely clear they're just BFFs.

By: halcyonday

halcyonday — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:55:42 -0800

Kingston University's Iris Murdoch Archive has recently obtained 250-odd letters sent between Iris Murdoch and Philippa Foot, which are pre and post WWII. They're not published yet but I imagine that parts of them will soon appear online as other bits of her correspondence have done so.

By: saltwater

saltwater — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:40:18 -0800

Virginia Woolf wrote many letters to female friends. Here's one to Vita Sackville-West, who was her best friend and lover. These letters are hard to find online, but easy to find in a library.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were great pals. Here are a few letters online, but once again you can find a larger collection in a library.

By: peacrow

peacrow — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:08:04 -0800

unless you want it to be absolutely clear they're just BFFs.

Good point. No, letters between rumored (or openly) lovers are up my alley, too.

By: Lorin

Lorin — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:20:54 -0800

In that case, Dear Tiny Heart: The Letters of Jane Heap and Florence Reynolds

By: brujita

brujita — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:07:37 -0800

The Canadian writers. Margaret Laurence and Adele Wiseman began corresponding in 1947.

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:38:26 -0800

This may be a little too academic for what you want, but Carroll Smith-Rosenberg's 1975 article "The Female World of Love and Ritual" (sample) was all about female letter-writing friendships. It's chapter two in her book Disorderly Conduct.

By: Bluestocking_Puppet

Bluestocking_Puppet — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:55:58 -0800

Some of Flannery O'Connor's correspondence with her best friend Betty Hester is utterly compelling. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have Betty's letters to Flannery.

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:22:59 -0800

Vita Sackville-West's letters to Virginia Woolf are great—but I'm also a big fan of Violet Trefusis's letters to Vita.

By: CathyG

CathyG — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:53:30 -0800

Bring Me a Unicorn by Anne Morrow Lindbergh has letters and diary entries. Not sure how much there is of ongoing or back-and-forth interaction. I read it many years ago and the tone of the prose has always stayed with me.

By: peacrow

peacrow — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:18:49 -0800

As Missy Elliot would say, "Oh thank you, you all are so wonderful!"

I would mark them all Best Answer if it wasn't too silly, but instead marked BA for the ones that gave me leads I didn't even know I wanted. The Smith-Rosenberg piece is fascinating.

I'm gonna have so much fun reading these. And if anyone else has more suggestions, don't hesitate to post 'em.

Thank you!

By: judith

judith — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 23:08:39 -0800

This is post-WWII, but the letters of Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy are a terrific read.

By: viggorlijah

viggorlijah — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:03:40 -0800

Jane Austen's letters are great fun to read if you're also an Austen fan. There aren't many surviving return letters, but she wrote often to her sister, her closest friend, and to other female relatives and friends. There are several compilations, but make sure to get the most recent collection by Deidre Le Faye which has the more vicious observations left in.

By: DarlingBri

DarlingBri — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:41:19 -0800

I sent this thread to my brilliant mother, who has an interest in literary women of this era and whom I gather has read all of the collections listed here.

She suggests the addition of Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters. "It's only her stuff, and begins during, not before WWI, but it's the very best that a collection of letters can be: put together so you know her."