Men of Letters and Women Artists

About this book

Samir Abdel Mohsen enters the literary salons and artistic circles of a celebrated cultural era to examine relationships between prominent writers and women of stage and screen. Behind public reputation lie private letters, poetic grief, rumor, fascination, and unequal encounters between the authority of the pen and the power of celebrity. The book does more than repeat romantic anecdotes. It considers the psychology of relationships viewed as forbidden or public, sacred or scandalous, and asks how love altered works, careers, and the images these influential figures left behind.