If Ever Two Were One: A Private Diary of Love Eternal

by Brian Sullivan

A deeply moving look into romance and tragedy in the life of a Victorian–era Harvard student and his beloved wife, through journal entries, letters, and images of the actual diary. Her soul was the violet of my home, fragrant with heaven's own breezes, and lovely with a modest charm that kept me and keeps me her lover as in the days of yore. ––Francis Ellingwood Abbot, 1894 In 1857, at the age of twenty, a Harvard student named Francis Ellingwood Abbot met seventeen–year–old Katie Loring at a party in Concord, Massachusetts, and realized he had found his soul mate. An impetuous lover and a promising poet and thinker, Frank asked for her hand in marriage just weeks later, and began to record his thoughts and feelings in journals and in gorgeous letters. Collected here for the first time, Frank's witty, moving, and divinely sensitive writings reveal the deepest recesses of his heart as his love for Katie grew during their marriage. A beautiful keepsake and a rediscovered treasure, If Ever Two Were One is certain to be recognized as one of the greatest romances of all time.

304 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating. It is a compilation of letters and diaries detailing the courtship and marriage of a 19th century couple. The diaries are those of Frank Abbott, and it was really cool to read the man's side of a romance from this period. Parts of the book are horribly sad - the couple suffered the loss of several children, as was common at the time - but I still enjoyed the glimpses of what life was like in the middle of the 1800s. There are passing references to major historical figures, as the Abbotts knew the Emersons and Thoreaus, and Frank corresponded with Darwin. I actually wished there more details about their daily lives, but that clearly wasn't meant to be the focus of the book.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book researching my own. This is an incredible "edit" of nearly 50 years of letters, diaries, momentos, and family accounts complied by Francis Abbot, a professor at Harvard (1881 - 1903). Sullivan, an archivist at Harvard, found the Abbot papers and in a wonderful, loving, succint way has recreated the world of Abbot, his school years, courtship and romance, education and family life. The book is laid out and the editted portions flow effortlessly. The text is dotted with illustrations. The title could not be more appropriate.