“They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.” (Ernest Dowson, Vitae Summa Brevis) The Summer Sejour to Gustafsberg, 1845 In the summer of 1845, Augusta turned 18. She had just finished her schooling in Stockholm and maybe her mother Anna thought it was time for her to […]
I have continued to read the correspondence between Augusta and Lotten Westman from 1845. In the earliest letters, they decide to write each other monthly, but sometimes they write even twice a month. The letters give a glimpse of the concerns of 18-year-old girls who have just finished their education and now have to be content with home life, social life, and prospects of marriage. […]