800 Years of Women's Letters [Paperback]

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

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

This inspiring and fascinating book is the first truly comprehensive study of women's letters ever published. Organised by subject matter, and covering a wide range of topics from politics, work and war, to childhood, love and sexual passion. '800 Years of Women's Letter' reveals the depth, breadth and diversity of women's lives through the ages. Here Holoise writes to Abelad of her undying devotion, Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woofl correspond about life and writing, and Queen Victoria complains to Robert Peel about the neglect of Buckingham Palace. Many more women write letters that reveal the compassion, humour, love and tenacity with which they confront the often difficult circumstances of everyday life. This is an intriguing insight, and a rare opportunity to read the real words of real women, in their own intimate language. "No literary form is more revealing, more spontaneous of more individual than a letter." P D James

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Few books offer such an historical panorama of women's issues in such a small space. A remarkable voyage through time, cultures, and ways of being female. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Olga Kenyon has unearthed eight centuries of lost voices, easily proving her assertion that women's letters are indeed "a great art form." Though readers will have heard of many of these correspondents--from Heloise (to Abelard, naturally) to Restoration playwright-spy Aphra Behn to Madame de Sévigné--most of us would be hard put to volunteer any solid information. Kenyon organizes these letters by theme, including friendship, childhood and education, war work, and political skills, and the juxtapositions are enlightening. "Housekeeping and Daily Life" features the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva, who writes of being forced to leave her two-year-old tied to a chair while she searches Moscow for provisions; Queen Elizabeth I, who bemoans the bad shape Buckingham Palace is in; and Hannah Cullwick, a servant who anatomizes England's sharp class divisions, circa 1864. Cullwick writes of toiling in the kitchen while the upper classes lord it upstairs: "But it's always so with ladies and servants and of course there is a difference cause their bringing up is so different--servants may feel it sharply and do sometimes i believe, but it's best not to be delicate, nor mind what work we do so as it's honest."

There is an evident high seriousness to Kenyon's enterprise--you won't find, for example, any of Nancy Mitford's sparkling missives. On the other hand, she does include a teasing letter from the great Victorian traveler Mary Kingsley, which begins: "My cannibal friends never eat human heads unless for religious purposes." -- Amazon.com Books

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014023389X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140233896
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,117,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real insight - excellent read, November 26, 1999

By 

butterflyeffect67 ":: Aelis ::" (Ibiza, Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 800 Years of Women's Letters (Hardcover)

A wonderful book on women. A real insight to the topic of women' s everyday life and problems. Excellent read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A damn good read, April 15, 1999

By 

Kali "bengaligirl" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 800 Years of Women's Letters (Hardcover)

Fascinating, well worth a look, especially if you are interested in a woman's birds eye view of life, the universe and everything in the last 800 years. Samuel Pepys move over!