Letters of a Portuguese Nun: Uncovering the Mystery Behind a 17th Century Forbidden Love - Softcover

Cyr, Miriam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401360165 ISBN 13: 9781401360160

Publisher: Miramax, 2007

Synopsis

In 1669, a Parisian bookseller published a slim volume called Portuguese Letters, which unveiled a love affair between a young Portuguese nun and a French officer that had occurred a few years earlier during a war-torn period in Portugal. The book contained passionate love letters from the nun when the officer was forced to return to France.

The letters took Paris by storm. They spoke of love in a manner so direct, so precise, and so raw, they sent shivers of recognition through the sophisticated stratums of polite society. Equally remarkable was the mystery that surrounds the letters: the author was unknown, and most people assumed they were the fictional product of a French aristocrat. Now, Myriam Cyr persuasively makes the case that the nun, Mariana Alcoforado, did indeed write the letters, and her story is one of the most moving in the history of forbidden love.

About this title

About the Author

Myriam Cyr worked as a journalist for Radio Canada International before embarking on an international theater career. She has appeared in numerous television shows and films, including I Shot Andy Warhol. She lives in Massachusetts with her family. This is her first book.

From Publishers Weekly

In 1669, five letters, supposedly written by a Portuguese nun, were published in Paris. They spoke of heartbreak at the desertion of a French lover after a passionate affair. The letters were a resounding success in French polite and literary society, and almost immediately sparked a controversy. Were they really the anguished cries of a scorned woman or the work of a talented male writer desperate for employment? Cyr, a stage and screen actress, claims—contra most scholars—that Mariana Alcoforado, the daughter of a rich and influential family, wrote the letters to the dashing French officer Chamilly after he returned to France. The story is fascinating, and Cyr does a good job of setting the context of 17th-century Portuguese and French life, explaining the role of convents in social and commercial realms as well as the international politics that brought Chamilly to Portugal. It's clear that Cyr did extensive research; she is not, however, a writer or a historian. Though her account is compelling and plausible, proof of Mariana's authorship, or even that she had an affair with Chamilly, remains circumstantial at best, and Cyr's argument rests on her own strong response to the sentiments in the letters. (Jan. 11)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Miramax
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1401360165
• ISBN 13: 9781401360160
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256