LETTERS ON THE GO, THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SUZANNE AUBERT
Edited by: Jessie Munro
Bridget Williams Books - RRP $69.99
240 x 170 mm 650 pages, approx 50 b/w illustrations
ISBN 978-1-877242-41-0
Montana Book Awards judge David Lange was lavish in his praise when Jessie Munro’s biography of Suzanne Aubert won the Montana Award in 1997: ‘…an outstanding work of historical biography with enduring literary value… a remarkable achievement for a book from a previously unpublished author… It deserves every accolade it is receiving.’
Edited by: Jessie Munro
Bridget Williams Books - RRP $69.99
240 x 170 mm 650 pages, approx 50 b/w illustrations
ISBN 978-1-877242-41-0
Montana Book Awards judge David Lange was lavish in his praise when Jessie Munro’s biography of Suzanne Aubert won the Montana Award in 1997: ‘…an outstanding work of historical biography with enduring literary value… a remarkable achievement for a book from a previously unpublished author… It deserves every accolade it is receiving.’
The Story of Suzanne Aubert simultaneously won the E.H. McCormick Award for the best first book of non-fiction – and went on to sell over 8,000 copies.
Now Suzanne’s own words are published, in this meticulously edited volume of her letters. The title, Letters on the Go, arises from her own recurring phrases, the words of a woman whose life was always full, always ‘on the go’. Hers was a very full life, ninety-one years packed with eventfulness.
But it was also a thoughtful life, a partnership of reflection and action that she communicated to others in a correspondence stretching over fifty years.
Now Suzanne’s own words are published, in this meticulously edited volume of her letters. The title, Letters on the Go, arises from her own recurring phrases, the words of a woman whose life was always full, always ‘on the go’. Hers was a very full life, ninety-one years packed with eventfulness.
But it was also a thoughtful life, a partnership of reflection and action that she communicated to others in a correspondence stretching over fifty years.
As the congregational leader Sister Rae Berry says: ‘The letters moulded us into a family. Suzanne was often travelling, and kept in touch with the Sisters all the time. And the Sisters continued the practice – this correspondence is central to our life as a congregation. Today the Sisters of Compassion are exploring the idea of ‘community’ online as well as in the world around us. And with the Letters we’re releasing a video interview – Jessie Munro and the Sisters talking about the correspondence, the archive, and the research behind this tremendous project Our website, http://www.compassion.org/.nz, will be hosting this video, made by Ross and Carmel Jennings and Aileen O’Sullivan, after 15 July.’
Aubert’s was a powerful voice, but it was also the voice of a loving and very human person – in the intimacy of her letters to close friends, in the daily round of the sisters’ lives, in the steady flow of letters and notes to her ‘children’ as they grew up and established their own lives, and in the advice and friendship of her correspondence with the sisters of her congregation.
About the author
About the author
Jessie Munro is the author of The Story of Suzanne Aubert, the acclaimed biography that won the Book of the Year award in the Montana Book Awards in 1997, along with the E.H.McCormick Award for the best first book in non-fiction.
Her meticulous research and clear writing, evident in the biography, have once again contributed to edit and frame this marvellous selection of letters. A former Commonwealth Scholar in French, Munro brings her considerable knowledge of French language and history to her superb presentation of a key figure in New Zealand history. In this she has had the support and assistance of Sister Bernadette Wrack, archivist and friend.
Her meticulous research and clear writing, evident in the biography, have once again contributed to edit and frame this marvellous selection of letters. A former Commonwealth Scholar in French, Munro brings her considerable knowledge of French language and history to her superb presentation of a key figure in New Zealand history. In this she has had the support and assistance of Sister Bernadette Wrack, archivist and friend.
Welcome reissue:
To coincide with the publication of Letters on the Go , much-admired specialist history publisher Bridget Williams Books is reissuing The Story of Suzanne Aubert ($49.99).
240x170mm, 508 pages, approx.50 b/w illustrations, ISBN 978-1-877242-42-7
Footnote:
Two important and impressive pieces of publishing.
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