"Stella's own story is of particular interest to readers today. After their break-up, she was a single parent, struggling to support herself and her daughter Julie by painting portraits in England and by acting as Ford's literary agent in London. Ford's poverty during the thirties, in spite of his continuous production of books and articles, made him and Bowen equals in the struggle for survival." "The letters provide a portrait of Ford not found in his memoirs and biographies: "I write to you as I never took the trouble to write to any other soul," he tells Stella, "how I really feel under a placid exterior." His attitudes toward religion, education, morality, marriage, and art - the true subjects of his fiction - are here expressed clearly and unequivocally."--BOOK JACKET.