Bloomsbury/Freud: The Letters of James and Alix Strachey, 1924-1925

This collection of letters chronicles a one-year period when the Stracheys were separated while she underwent psychoanalysis in Berlin and he remained in England. The couple were among the earliest and most ardent disciples of this radical new science: James had been analyzed by Freud himself, and their English-language translation of the master's complete works (published in 24 volumes by Hogarth Press) remains definitive. The couple were also intimately connected to the literary world of Bloomsbury through James's older brother Lytton and their friendships with Dora Carrington, John Maynard Keynes, Adrian Stephen and his sister Virginia Woolf. Their letters give a delightfully gossipy inside glimpse of both worlds: sexual intrigue and confusion among the ""Bloomsberries''; violent theoretical disagreements and professional jealousies in the psychoanalytic set. The counterpoint between these separate yet equally avant-garde worlds is fascinating, and the portrait of the Stracheys' relationshipa marriage of equality and respect as well as affectionthat emerges from the correspondence is appealing. The editors have provided a useful introduction and copious footnotes, making this a welcome addition to the archives of both Bloomsbury and psychoanalysis. November 27