While most of her work makes adroit use of embedded letters,

is Mary Davys’s only wholly epistolary novel. The short work consists of a correspondence between two friends, Artander, the gentleman, who has gone into the countryside, and Berina, the lady, who has remained in London. Before the novel begins, they have promised each other that they will remain on a strict basis of friendship – no courtship, no love talk, just frank discussion. The promise proves more than Artander can manage, to Berina’s intense annoyance.

The names suggest the romance tradition (there are no surnames) and Artander’s countryside is a generic amalgam of characters and situations, but Berina’s London is clearly the city of the first quarter of the

1337 words

Citation: Bowden, Martha F.. "Familiar Letters betwixt a Gentleman and a Lady". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16840, accessed 22 November 2024.]