The Mother and the Maiden Aunt: Letters of Eva and Alice Greene 1909-1912 (Paperback)

The women of the Greene family were great letter writers and, just as significantly, made a point of keeping the letters they received. John Barham has edited the letters written between 1909 and 1912 by Eva Greene, his grandmother, and Alice, her sister-in-law, and aunts of author Graham Greene. The letters are not only a fascinating account of the women's lives, in Brazil, England and Switzerland, but also offer glimpses into the deep friendship and affection between the sisters-in-law, as well as forming a valuable historical record. Eva's letters provide a vivid insight into her busy life. She was frequently so busy that letters were written over several days, and usually included the time of day when each piece was written. It is the freshness of her descriptions that makes her letters so fascinating. While Alice's letters, besides frequent references to Eva's children, contained news about her own activities and those of her three sisters and two brothers and her lover, Betty Molteno. It seems probable that these and other letters were kept at Harston House, near Cambridge, until the death of Sir Graham Greene, Alice's eldest brother, in 1950. After the house was cleared the letters eventually found their way to a cousin and then onto John, who has been able to edit and publish them. Alice's letters were in a ring binder while Eva's were all in their original envelopes, which enabled John to trace the delivery of so many of them. John recently published the first set of letters written by Alice in Alice Greene, Teacher and Campaigner. South African Correspondence 1887-1902 (ISBN 9781905886432)