Books: Correspondent

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Mossiker has excerpted too many letters that dwell on Mme. de Sévigné's excessive love for her daughter. In translating the letters the author has frequently coarsened the elegant language of the original. She uses contemporary jargon and cliches—"peer group," "life-style," "role models"—to describe the world of 17th century aristocrats. "One of the great mistresses of the art of speech," as Virginia Woolf characterized Mme. de Sévigné, is said by Mossiker to have "verbalized as naturally as she breathed." Even so, the French writer's voice carries, resonating across the cultural and linguistic divide. For that echo alone, the reader can be grateful. —By Patricia Blake