Jun
Saturday Salon — Young Girl Writing a Love Letter
"Young Girl Writing a Love Letter" by Pietro Rotari
Oh, I just adore this painting. Just adore it. From the moment I saw it hanging in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, I adored it, and so I brought a print and hung it my office, and I look at it all the time.
Adoringly.
To begin with, it’s gorgeous. I want that outfit. That bright coral-pink against white and leaf green is one of my favorite color combinations, and I love a plunging neckline. The fabric textures are rendered in such lush detail, and that green ribbon around her neck is sweetness itself. Le Sigh.
Then we have all her writing implements on the table. The airy, delicate quill. The rather stodgier inkwell furtively ducking behind the chair–not wanting to be implicated, perhaps. The sealing wax is ready and waiting, bright as a lipstick. (You know this letter is going to be sealed fast and well, so as to protect its sensitive contents.) Lastly, I adore that there are at least three or four sheets of paper. Because everyone knows, no Young Girl can write a proper Love Letter with less than three or four sheets of paper.
But mostly, I adore this painting for Young Girl herself. The look on her face… Dreamy, mischievous, conspiratorial, sweet, coy, hopeful all at once. She makes me remember exactly what it felt like to be In Love as a young girl myself–the heady, all-consuming rush of infatuation. When I was a teenager, I kept a diary – but I only ever wrote in it when I had a mad crush on a boy. I should have known then I’d end up writing romance novels!
Perhaps in the comments, we can try our hand at transcribing the contents of the Young Girl’s letter. What exactly is she writing, and to whom? Probably it’s just my Little Women fixation talking, but I’m convinced her lover’s name is Rodrigo.
Or if creative writing isn’t your thing on Saturdays, we can discuss memorable love letters in our lives, or in novels. Or do you have any favorite novels that are written entirely in letters?
One of my own favorites is Sorcery and Cecila, or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. It’s one part YA fantasy, one part Regency romance, entirely written in letters, and it is in all ways delightful. In fact, I enjoy it so much, I’d like to give away one copy to a lucky commenter (print or digital, your choice).
Enter by midnight Pacific, and I’ll announce a winner on Sunday!
Jun 16, 2012
1:26 am
“Anthony, my dearest love,
As you paint me while I confess my love to you in words, I can’t help but smile coyly at you, for I know how you make me feel with the right look, the right touch, the right word.
I pray other young ladies are as fortunate as I to find the happiness, the pleasure, you have brought me.
Yours ever,
Amanda.”
Jun 16, 2012
1:33 am
Ooh, I love it! Her lover is the painter himself? And she’s coyly smiling indeed. Must be all that “pleasure” he’s shown her.
Clever, delicious and just a touch naughty. I approve!
Thanks for playing!
Jun 16, 2012
2:26 am
I love that painting as well. Thanks for sharing it! It’s perfect for your office, I hope it inspires great things!
Best love letters for me have to be high school. They were a bit more sophisticated than the ‘will you be my boy friend? Check yes or no’ but they were still pretty novice. I still have a bunch of those letters my sweetheart sent me and they are fun to take out and read sometimes lol.
This is totally unromantic but my favorite book comprised of letters is C.S. Lewis’s, Screwtape Letters. It is simply awesome
Jun 16, 2012
8:06 am
Gwendollyn, I LOVE Lewis’s Screwtape Letters. It’s one of my all time favorite books.
Jun 16, 2012
4:44 pm
Oh, me too, me too! Dearest Wormwood…
Jun 16, 2012
11:08 am
How sweet, that your high school boyfriend sent you love letters! And how smart of you to save them so you can go back and read them again.
I suppose nowadays, kids just text? That’s kind of sad.
I admit, I’ve never read Screwtape Letters! Should look into it, because I love C.S. Lewis.
Jun 16, 2012
4:20 am
The book that i like is not made from letters but tweets. “Good night Tweetheart” by Teresa Medeiros. I don’t usually read contemporaries as I am a historical girl but this book was so cute.
Jun 16, 2012
8:07 am
Oh, I’ve been dying to read that one, Liz. You’ve inspired me anew. Maybe I’ll start it this weekend!
Jun 16, 2012
11:09 am
Oh, great one! And a great reminder that the “love letter” itself will never die, even if it shrinks to texts and tweets.
I think Goodnight Tweetheart is coming out in mass market paperback soon – yay!
Jun 16, 2012
4:36 am
Great post Tessa, that painting is lovely.
I’m not creative but my favourite love letter from a book is Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne in Persuasion. It’s just so beautiful, it makes me sigh just thinking about it.
Jun 16, 2012
8:13 am
Tessa, Beebs got to my favorite first. Wentworth’s letter to Anne is my favorite love letter in all fiction, full of passion and hope and longing and desperate uncertainty. It’s the emotion I strive for with every couple I write.
The first full length Regency historical I ever wrote began with many pages of letters and then continued with letters scattered throughout. The hero and heroine were pen pals, but (due to my fondness for heroes with secret identities) the hero was all along pretending to be his sister. He falls in love, she doesn’t know it’s him… Well, you can imagine where that went.
Oh! I must mention Erin Knightley’s debut that came out just last week, MORE THAN A STRANGER, which begins with wonderfully charming letters between the hero and the heroine as they’re growing up. I loved that!
The painting is beautiful, btw. I agree, the dress is perfect, and it would look gorgeous on you in particular.
Jun 16, 2012
9:47 am
Ditto! Wentworth’s letter is to die for.
Jun 16, 2012
11:29 am
Thanks for mentioning Erin Knightly’s book, Katharine! I have been meaning to get it, and now I must push it higher on the list!
Jun 16, 2012
12:26 pm
Oh yes! I read Erin’s book, the letters were so sweet. I’m looking forward to Richard’s story already.
Jun 16, 2012
11:16 am
Oh, yes. Wentworth’s letter is divine! It never fails to pierce my soul.
Jun 16, 2012
6:45 pm
I love that letter too.
Jun 16, 2012
7:13 am
I think one of the best letters is in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I adore Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth in P&P, but there is nothing like Captain Wentworth’s letter to Anne and her reaction that he feels the same way she does. When I was into my icon making for websites like LiveJournal and all. I made these two regarding the letter – [IMG]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b60/LadyJamers/Other%20dreamy%20UK%20actors/Austen-Icons/Pers-he-wantsme-todo-what.jpg[/IMG]
I had two or three diaries when a teenager. Writing things down helped me with life and all. I first, wrote about a fave mini series with a favorite actor, then it switched to the boy I liked in school. I found it years after writing it and it was fun to read again.
As for a letter –
Dearest Amelia,
I long for the chance when we can meet again. Perhaps at Lady B’s ball? I will save a dance for you. Later, we can walk in the moonlight and talk about our future together.
Until then, I will keep you in my thoughts.
Yours forever more,
Rodrigo
Jun 16, 2012
11:26 am
Hooray, another Wentworth admirer! As ardent a Darcy-lover as I am, even I have to give the letter-writing prize to Wentworth. No contest, really. Love the gifs!
And I love your letter from Rodrigo to Amelia – what a smashing idea, for the two of them to make a future ballroom appearance. Hmmm… now I’d have to find the painting of “Rodrigo”.
Jun 16, 2012
7:14 am
OOPS, the other icon didn’t go through —
Jun 16, 2012
8:00 am
This really isn’t a novel . . .but one of my favorite books is one edited by Bill Shapiro titled Other People’s Love Letters. The book consists of 150 letters written by people in the various phases of their love affairs. Just a great treat.
Jun 16, 2012
11:23 am
Janice, I have that book! And yes, it’s a tremendously fun thing to look through. Sort of like a scrapbook of all kinds of relationships, some starting and some ending.
Jun 16, 2012
9:50 am
I adore your post, Tessa. I’ve never seen that painting – thank you for sharing it.
Great letters:
1. Capt. Wentworth to Anne (of course)
2. Olivia’s letters to Peregrine in Loretta Chase’s Lord Perfect. So delightfully funny. Most creative use of capitals and underlining. Clearly they had to grow up and end up together.
3. The emails in 50 Shades of Grey? (ducks to avoid flying crockery)
Jun 16, 2012
11:28 am
1. Yes!
2. Oh, thank you for mentioning these! Olivia writes the most entertaining letters. Last Night’s Scandal made me so happy.
3. No crockery, just…no comment.
Jun 16, 2012
12:06 pm
So much controversy with 50 Shades lol. Everyone I’ve spoken with either love it or hate it. I yet haven’t joined the debate because I haven’t read it. Can’t make up my mind lol. That’s sometimes the curse of peoples reviews I think, makes me stutter step sometimes in buying a new book.
So no crockery from me!
Jun 16, 2012
6:46 pm
Hah! Some of those 50 Shades emails were hilarious, but I cannot look at the word “twitchy” the same anymore.
Jun 16, 2012
9:57 am
Forgot to say, I adored Sorcery and Cecilia. I think our Ballroom denizens would really enjoy it too.
Jun 16, 2012
11:20 am
Isn’t it a great book? It’s been several years since I’ve read it, but I found it so entertaining and fun. I couldn’t resist the chance to spread the love.
Jun 16, 2012
6:46 pm
I love Sorcery and Cecilia too. Such a fun book.
Jun 16, 2012
10:57 am
That is a lovely painting Tessa! I can see why you love it! Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
One of my favorite books with love letters is Lisa Kleypas’s Love In the Afternoon. Beatrix first sends a letter to the hero Christopher because of her friend Prudence, but as she says it quickly became “heartbeats on the page.” Sigh
I would be horribly remiss if I didn’t mention Ballroom authoress Sarah’s wonderful Rogue By Any Other Name. I loved the letters between Penelope and Bourne when they were younger, and the final one Michael writes to her makes me melt and all gooey inside every time
Also, JQ’s To Sir Phillip, With Love starts with correspondence between Eloise and Phillip, which inspires him to write her a love letter at the end!
Jun 16, 2012
11:19 am
Those are all great examples, Lisa!
I do love watching characters fall in love through correspondence. And Love in the Afternoon had that extra-delicious layer of mistaken identity.
Doesn’t JQ’s When He Was Wicked feature letters between Michael and Francesca, too? Or maybe I’m remembering it wrong…
Jun 16, 2012
11:50 am
Your examples are awesome Lisa. Love in the Afternoon is one of my favorites! I really wish Kleypas would write Bennet’s complete story. I think it would be a good one.
I loved Sarah’s use of letter in Rogue By Any Other Name too! Those letters gave a great backdrop for the characters history and feelings. Especially Penelope’s. Penelope’s story broke my heart throughout the book. Took me awhile to warm up to Bourne. Now I can safely say he’s probably in my top five favorite heroes, but for sure in my top ten.
Jun 16, 2012
11:53 am
So I have a non blog post question and it probrably shows my newbness but…how do you gals have pictures as your icon? My boring gray and white icon wants some color!
Jun 16, 2012
12:32 pm
Gwendollyn, I think most of us have a gravatar account, and that’s how the photo shows up. You sign up at gravatar.com, upload your image, and link it to the email address that you use when posting on blogs.
The authoresses also have our icons that show up when we’re officially logged in (that’s why my icon is different in some posts than others).
There may be other ways to do it, but that’s the easiest one I know!
Jun 17, 2012
1:18 am
Thanks Tessa! I appreciate the help!
Jun 16, 2012
2:53 pm
Ooo that is a beautiful painting
and The Enchanted Chocolate Pot is a great book, no question!
I think Meg Cabot does some really interesting books through letters, diaries and emails. Who could ignore the Princess Diaries series? Then there’s “The Boy” books which are told through IM, emails and journal entries. I think these alternatives to straight prose provide an interesting viewpoint for the reader.
Jun 16, 2012
4:57 pm
Good point, Catie! I like those “mixed media” (I know that’s not the right word, but I can’t think of a better one) type stories, too. There are lots of good ones for children, including Regarding the Fountain and its sequels.
Jun 16, 2012
4:49 pm
Do you guys remember My Sweet Folly by Laura Kinsale? In that one, the couple corresponded long-distance between England and India, where the hero was stationed, until they finally met. By that time, she was already half in love with him and so was I! That was a favorite of mine.
Tessa, thanks for explaining the gravatar accounts. I Did Not Know That.
Gaelen, the tech-challenged Ballroom authoress
Jun 16, 2012
4:55 pm
Ah, that’s one of the Kinsales I haven’t read! Thanks for mentioning it – I’ll have to track it down. Sounds fabulous.
Glad to be of service on the gravatar issue!
Jun 16, 2012
4:59 pm
“My Dearest Rodrigo,
I care not that Papa has forbidden me to write to you again. Be warned, they hide your letters from me, but I am biding my time, collecting all the things I’ll need until I can fly to you. Then we shall escape to Gretna Green and be happy all our lives together.
My loyal maid, Pansy, has vowed to serve as our courier in strictest secrecy. But she begs to be allowed to accompany me when I become your wife. You don’t mind paying for my servants and all my little trifles, do you, dearest? I know we said we’d live on love alone, but one needs one’s domestics, dearest. Isn’t that so? Or shall I marry the horrid old miser Papa is trying to foist off on me?
Advise…quickly…and persuade my heart once more that your pretty words were more than just idle gallantry.
Patiently yours,
Sophie.”
PS–I decided she should be named Sophie, I don’ t know why. But i definitely detect a hint of Gretna speculation in her eyes…
Jun 16, 2012
5:09 pm
Gaelen, that’s fabulous! She definitely has plans, doesn’t she? And I can easily believe that “Sophie” is not one to give up life’s little comforts.
Jun 16, 2012
6:14 pm
I love that the maid is called Pansy. I want one!
Jun 16, 2012
6:47 pm
Love it.
Jun 16, 2012
6:28 pm
That painting is wonderful! I have been looking for something like that to hang in my room. As for love letters, I am certainly not a writer, but I think she may be writing to the young Viscount who’s property adjoins her father’s. Of course, sad for her, he is just not into young girls at the moment. But I want to tell her, just wait, he’ll grow up and be more magnificent than you believe him to be now…and he’ll finally notice you!
I have all the love letters from my husband from back in our earlier days, several boxes worth. They are all packed away, left maybe to be discovered by our children when we are gone. We wrote to each other frequently, even though we lived in the same house. If one of us couldn’t sleep we would write a page or twoto the other, or a little note before we left for work.
Jun 17, 2012
12:45 am
Rhiannon, it sounds like you and your husband have such a romantic relationship! I love the idea of writing letters to each other, even in the same house. How sweet. I know when your kids find those letters someday, they are going to be so touched.
I love your advice to our lovelorn young girl! How true, that the girls so often start dreaming about the boys looong before they’re taking any notice.
Jun 16, 2012
6:48 pm
My favorite book written in letters (but not love letters) is Evelina. I read that at 16, when the heroine was 16, and every time I reread it, it’s like a whole new book for me.
And of course, love so many of the others mentioned above.
Jun 17, 2012
12:48 am
Sabrina, thank you for mentioning Evelina! It’s one of those books I’ve read about, but never read – I think I need to make a point to do it soon. I’ve read Pamela, which was also in letters, I think – it seems to have been a common form of the day!
Jun 16, 2012
7:57 pm
I loved Goodnight Tweetheart! The painting is gorgeous!
Jun 17, 2012
12:44 am
You have great taste in books AND paintings.
Jun 16, 2012
8:16 pm
That’s a nice painting. I’ve never heard of that book. It sounds very interesting.
Jun 17, 2012
12:43 am
It’s a great book! Hope you have a chance to read it.
Jun 16, 2012
10:25 pm
Hi Tessa et al,
Love the post, LOVE the painting and love the idea of filling in the blank of what she’s writing. Normally, I would play along but frankly, I’m too exhausted from a long drive from Myrtle Beach to think of what my own name is right now, although I’ll gladly claim Rodrigo’s letter that Jaime wrote to my alter, Amelia. ; )
I do have a favorite book written in letter form (epistolary form) though – Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN … not a romance in the truest of forms but still one of my favorites. : )
Happy Saturdayr
Jun 17, 2012
12:43 am
Oh my goodness, what a long drive! Are you just coming back from vacation? I hope it was a great one!
I had completely forgotten that FRANKENSTEIN was an epistolary novel! Great example.
Jun 17, 2012
10:16 am
We just came home from a week in N. Myrtle Beach, SC – it’s a long drive and traffic was a bear in several places so it took a little longer than usual. The drive is worth it – we only had one rainy day and the other days were gorgeous! If my laptop had cooperated better, I would’ve gotten more writing time in and relaxed a whole lot more but I got my blogging done if nothing else.
Like they say, “a bad day at the beach is better than a great week at work.” : )