Does not review books. Please congratulate Dr. Leach on the revived Forum. Glad he could get the fine story by Miss Sedgwick. Willa Cather [Stout #740]
Hasn't received Anne Douglas Sedgwick's The Little French Girl, as he promised in letter. Please hold September check until further notice, as she will be there and in Jaffrey. Would he have a pound of caramels sent from Mary Elizabeth's [shop]? Isn't he planning a volume of Miss Guiney's poetry? [Happy Endings: The Collected Lyrics of Louise Imogen Guiney, edited by Greenslet, was published in 1927.] Could be working on it while lounging on the cliffs. Willa Cather [Stout #741]
The two pounds of caramels arrived C.O.D., though she feels sure he paid for it. Has begun Sedgwick's book and likes it so far. W. S. C. [Stout #742]
Will leave it up to Mr. Reynolds whether to serialize the book. Off soon on a long pack trip by horse. Willa Cather [Stout #833]
Anne Douglas Sedgwick has sent a note written by him praising My Mortal Enemy. Appreciates his favor. Most of her books made out of old memories from which the extraneous has dropped away. Now reading proofs of a book that gave her joy to write, Death Comes for the Archbishop. Willa Cather [Stout #883]
Enjoyed his letter, but his memory failed him: "A Chance Meeting" was republished in Not Under Forty, and Sedgwick wrote a very pleasant review of it in the Atlantic Monthly. He understood Mrs. Fields and her milieu more than most. Van Wyck Brooks, who is usually so careful, even credited Cather with editing a book of Mrs. Whitman's letters; Miss Jewett was the one who did that. Had not heard the story of Henry James encountering Flaubert before, but recalls that James said he used to send Flaubert and Turgenev copies of his books and never got a response. It was big of James to divulge it. Willa Cather
Hopes he reads the review in the "Atlantic Bookshelf" section of this month's Atlantic Monthly [Ethel Wallace Hawkins, "The Atlantic Bookshelf" {review of Shadows on the Rock}, Atlantic Monthly 148 (August 1931): 8, 10]. Has turned down so many offers from the Atlantic. The editor was gracious to give her such a long review. Though the review is a bit cloying, it does basically catch her main idea: the novel was meant to feel like a translation from French. If readers get that, they will get the novel. The initial sales have been terrific—the best of her career. Has sent copies to Roscoe. Would send a copy of the Atlantic Monthly, but can't get hold of American magazines on Grand Manan. The Saturday Evening Post is now thirty-five cents! Willie.
