The love-letters of Mr. H. & Miss R., 1775-1779

The letters exchanged between a young clergyman and a genteel governess from 1775 to 1779 form a tender portrait of affection restrained by the expectations of eighteenth‑century England. Their words move from shy admiration to a passionate intimacy, while the occasional mention of daily life—family duties, social gatherings, and the looming threat of scandal—grounds the romance in a vivid historical setting. Listening to their correspondence feels like stepping into a private diary, where every sigh and hopeful phrase is recorded with the immediacy of spoken conversation.

Edited and published in the years following the pair’s tragic separation, the collection also offers a glimpse of the literary world that surrounded them. The compiler interwove anecdotes about contemporary writers, most notably the prodigious poet Thomas Chatterton, and provides commentary on the pamphlets that first publicized the affair. This layered presentation gives listeners both an intimate love story and a snapshot of the cultural currents that shaped it.