There Are No Letters Like Yours: The Correspondence of Isabelle de Charrière and Constant d'Hermenches

For ME this is 5 star, but not for everyone. This big tome is a collection of the prolific correspondence between a brilliant woman and professional soldier/gentleman. It is a wonderful window into northern Europe during the baroque era (1700s), the interactions between men and women, and the persectives at the time of differences in society and manners of these various countries. Isabelle de Charriere wrote novels, music, and is known for incisive social commentary. Her family had enough money that she did not have to marry if she chose not to, and she was somewhat spoiled for choice. She meets Constant D'Hermenches - genteleman/professional soldier/a notorious womanizer at a ball and there begins the heated letters of a young gentlewoman to a man she knows is considered scandalous. It is a love affair in letters only, they rarely meet, and yet over time, they seem to do a great deal of maneuvering to be together... including a GREAT deal of time and energy spent on a scheme for her to marry his best friend, so that they can see each other more often?! She eventually marries someone else, but I won't reveal how or why, and what happens over time. These were the great days of letter writing, and subtlty, literaray allusions and wit abound. But these are not rarified letters; often they are entrenched in mudane arguments over details of financial arrangements or his latest job posting. This collection could well be called "The Marriage of Belle". This is a large book, and many of the letters are written over serveral days. (It lost a star, because it simply would not appeal to the average reader; one quibble, the letters are in order of date of being written, so sometimes the letter is referring to the letter two previous letters ago, or a letter arrives while one is writing, and then we catch up with the new letter... it does take a little concentration.) It is not the lightest reading, but VERY rewarding, like finding two interesting and expressive friends.