Before the days of e-mails and mobile phones and text messages, love letters were often a valued part of some relationships. Love letters are often a treasured possession in many songs. I can think of any number of songs that are about love letters.
The reason is because it’s something many of us can associate with. Most of us have either written or received at least one love letter in our lives or wished we had.
These days, thanks to books and the internet, we can see love letters written by famous people .These include Mark Twain, James Joyce, Honor De Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Gustave Flaubert just to name a few. In our own home we have a large box full of love letters Mick and I wrote to each other while we were engaged. We may never be famous and have the world see our love letters and I’m glad for that. They were personal outpourings of our love only for each other.
Now one Australian woman has put together a collection of her mother and father’s love letters written during World War 2. Their daughter heather Haughton, gathered together 550 letters that survived of the 638 her parents, Eileen and Ken MacFarlane, wrote to each other during the five years they were apart.
Through these letters the love of her parents for each other is revealed. The letters reveal the deep love and respect they had for each other. They also reveal humor and frankness.
Ken’s letter came from areas in the Middle East and New Guinea. His letters tell of the life he experienced there along with his love for her. Eileen’s letters are very much the day to day happening of her activities, things the children said and of course her love for Ken.
The book that resulted from these love letters is called Au Revoir My Darling by Heather Haughton and will be published by New Holland Publishers.
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