If you are as fascinated by the Family James — Henry and William and Alice, but also their father Henry Sr., mother Mary, and the two younger brothers Wilkie and Bob — as I am, then you may applaud a website devoted to correspondence between the two eldest brothers. (William as a young Harvard instructor plays an important role in Savage Girl.)A scholar named J.C. Hallman is putting together a book of letters for eventual publication by the University of Iowa Press. Every day he offers raw quotes from the letters. For instance, today he shares a letter from Henry that reports on his activities with William’s wife and daughter, whom he is hosting while William is at a sanatarium being treated for a heart ailment:

“No news to add to-day but the perpetuity of our peace & harmony — a monotony of happy quiet, of walks over acres of grass & miles of meadow, with tea at Boon’s Hill, mainly as a break — to which exquisite windless weather, the last heavy stillness of ripe summer, much contributes.  Beautiful sunsets, neat, frugal dinners, evenings as peaceful as the afternoons, complete the charm.”

Check out Wm & H’ry and then I strongly recommend you go back to reread Turn of the Screw and Daisy Miller, two of my faves.