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

" 'I will not dissemble, Monsieur' are the words with which the twenty-year-old Isabelle de Charriere opens her correspondence with David-Louis, Baron de Constant d'Hermenches... Their now celebrated correspondence, which will last sixteen years, and comprise over 400, often very long letters... create an arena In which to explore their inner lives in words. The letters span the years 1760-76, and chart not only an intimate friendship, but also the unfolding Enlightenment's aspirations to freedoms of the heart and mind....It is only in the past decade... that Isabelle de Charriere's writings have been recognised as the remarkable resource they are: an indelibly fresh register of a whole period, as well as of one woman's exploration of 'how to be yourself without stepping out of the system.' " Times Literary Supplement; "Elegantly edited and tastefully presented... it is a reminder of those elegant days when the whole art of sexuality lay in the philosophical aplomb and resourceful stratagems of one's seductive lover." The Spectator; "The correspondence of these epistolary lovers gives us a strange, often moving and always entertaining story, enriched by significant historic incidents, the intellectual concerns and the way of life of the European nobility before the French Revolution. This is an essential reference work to any student of the 18th century; as a present, it is for history buffs with a romantic disposition." Los Angeles Times Book Review; "This animated, cultured correspondence begins almost like a romantic novel: highborn Dutch virgin, age 20, meets dashing older married man---a Swiss colonel with a reputation as a libertine---and they strike up a clandestine correspondence.... Isabelle... writes bright, witty, lucid letters spiked with epigrammatic wit, which weave a cunning self-portrait of a passionate, intelligent woman who oscillates between self-assertive independence and doing what her family and associates expect of her.... Janet Whatley... and Malcom Whatley have done a fine job translating this lively correspondence." Publishers Weekly; "The letters are revealing: on occasion, sexual tension is obvious, but more obvious are the writers scruples, values, and their apsirations for growth, happiness, self-respect, and personal excellence.... These letters are also rewarding, not only for their wit and style but also for their insights into the times, especially the Enlightenment.... Recommended for public and academic libraries." Library Journal.