Other People's Letters: In Search of Proust

by Mina Curtiss

Born in 1896, Mina Curtiss is an exemplary modern-day heroine. Blessed with brains, money and an acute sense of humor, she was also intrepid, savvy, sensitive and the star of her very own thriller. When Edmund Wilson suggests that she translate Proust’s letters, she sets off for Paris with “ Ma’s sables ,” her typewriter, charcoal briquettes to keep herself warm (in postwar 1947), a case of bourbon and letters of introduction from people like May Sarton and Harold Nicolson to people like George Balanchine and Julian Huxley. We are with her every step of the way as she makes the Proustian world come to life again, from the aristocratic salons of the Faubourg Saint-Germain to her poignant meetings with Celeste Albaret, Proust’s legendary housekeeper and companion.

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jim Woolwine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Curtiss, Mina. Other People's Letters, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1978. Curtiss by training taught English at Smith College. Her investigative writing style was focused on reading written correspondence of the people she researched - Marcel Proust, Georges Bizet, Degas. This book, Other People's Letters, is a memoir of the time she spent researching Proust - finding his correspondence, tracking down individuals still alive who knew Proust, discovering other biographical material to complete her biography. She writes about herself. This is a period piece - the setting is post World War Two Paris. Curtiss stays at The Ritz, of course, takes tea at the Plaza Athenée, and travels in the highest circles of Paris society at a time of penury in Paris. No heat or butter at the Ritz, spotty electricity, references to Nazi Occupation and deportation of French Jews are raw wounds. Contrasted with the rich descriptions of the beauty of the city.

[Elizabeth Gundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous adventure with a scene right out of The Aspern Papers.