sylly’s Reviews > Dear Juliette: Letters of May Sarton to Juliette Huxley > Status Update
sylly
is on page 153 of 400
I am roughly half way through the book and am enjoying it a great deal. I love reading how others materialize their love into words (despite my complicated relationship with the very thought of it), so I knew from the beginning I would most likely enjoy this collection of letters.
I think a large portion of my enjoyment for the book thusfar stems from the way I see parts of myself in Sarton. (1/ who knows)
— Jun 17, 2026 08:28AM
I think a large portion of my enjoyment for the book thusfar stems from the way I see parts of myself in Sarton. (1/ who knows)
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sylly’s Previous Updates
sylly
is on page 290 of 400
Just put two and two together that Juliette’s husband, Julian, was the Julian Huxley that was very much so a proponent of eugenics and coined the term transhumanism. I loathe nearly every aspect of transhumanism (some of its biggest [current] proponents are tech billionaires, which says a lot about it). So booo Julian Huxley. I will definitely look at the book differently now.
Sidebar aside, I have finally (1/2)
— Jun 23, 2026 06:32PM
Sidebar aside, I have finally (1/2)
sylly
is on page 212 of 400
Ok so I lied, I actually am not nearing the portion of time during which Juliette refuses communication with Sarton. While I still enjoy her writing and the way she attempts to verbalize how she feels (although she, like I, often highlights how inadequate words are), it gets a bit repetitive. I think it doesn’t help that we don’t get to see Juliette’s responses. Perhaps that was intentional, adding to the (1/).
— Jun 19, 2026 04:21PM
sylly
is on page 52 of 400
“Everything seems wrong now that was so right. But one must pretend that there is some reason and some curious pattern in such things”
— Jun 15, 2026 03:53PM
I also find myself strongly disliking Sarton at times, and cannot help but wonder if my disdain for certain portions of—or themes in—her writing stem from my own self loathing.
As I believe Sarton does herself, I go back and forth on whether it is fair to love (romantically or platonically—in Sarton’s case, I believe both) someone who does not feel the same way, or in the very least, to the same extent. The eventual toll it takes on both individuals seems cruel. Yet I am aware of the way we cannot control our intensity: painfully aware. Then again, can you truly love someone you don’t truly know? I don’t think you can. I don’t think that’s truly love.
I am curious to see how Sarton’s perspective may (or may not change) as she ages. She started writing the letters on October of 1936 (at just 24 years old, while Juliette was 40(?)). I already find myself ear marking quotes less and less and she ages with her letters. Perhaps a reflection of my own immaturity. I am also just now beginning to reaching the nearly 30 year period during which Juliette (Huxley) does not speak with (May) Sarton at all, and am curious to see how the letters change as this occurs.
In the Editor’s Preface, Sherman states, “I have often imagined May during those twenty-seven years of silence [alluding to the time which Juliette refused to speak to May], and wondered what it is that enables some of us to be faithful to love in its absence. Part of the answer, I think? Lies in what she said just after we had watched Les Enfants du Paradis; after a parturient silence, she declared definitively: ‘The only pure love is unrequited love.’”
I’m not sure if I believe this either. I think unrequited love is unhealthy and selfish, breeding resentment and anger. An anger that I believe is evident in Sarton’s writing, at least to some extent, despite not yet reaching the period of no contact. Or perhaps, again, that’s just me projecting my own experiences onto her writing.