6 h 57 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a famous humorist write when the woman he longs for is far beyond his reach?
In 1767, Laurence Sterne writes a private diary for Elizabeth Draper, whom he calls Eliza. She has sailed back to India, where her husband serves as an official of the East India Company. Sterne records his days, his health and his changing moods, addressing her as though she were still in the room.
The Journal to Eliza and Various Letters brings this diary together with letters to Eliza and others. Here, the author of Tristram Shandy appears without his comic mask: a sick, ageing clergyman full of hope, jealousy, jokes and fear. His longing sits beside an uneasy family life with his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Lydia.
What you’ll discover
- A voice in private Meet Sterne in pages meant for Eliza, not for the public.
- Distance felt each day Follow the daily habit of speaking to someone who is far away.
- Feeling becomes an art Explore sentimental writing as both an expression of feeling and a performance for another person.
- Humour beside fear Find jokes alongside jealousy and worry as Sterne records his shifting moods.
- An uneasy household Notice the strained family ties that surround these intimate expressions of devotion.
Who will love it
For readers who love private letters and diaries, the sentimental style of the eighteenth century, and the story behind Sterne's novels. It suits anyone curious about two real people writing to each other across an ocean.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A friendship begins in London
- Love shows itself in small errands
- Jokes, illness, and a last farewell
- The journal begins with days of longing
- Fever, mercury, and a comic mishap
- A Coxwold retreat and coming storm
- Skelton Castle, spas, and packets from Iago
- The wife's visit and the notes to friends
- Eliza speaks for herself
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Il diario per Eliza e varie lettere
by Laurence Sterne; Elizabeth Draper
A sick country parson writes to a woman sailing for India, and weeps over a meal he eats alone.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Laurence Sterne, the clergyman behind Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental Journey, answers in these private pages. Most of them come from 1767 and the years after, and they are addressed to Elizabeth Draper, whom he calls Eliza.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A friendship begins in London
The first letters show how the bond starts. Sterne sends Eliza his books and says the sermons came from the heart while the other works came from the head. He admits he is half in love with her, yet signs himself faithful if not affectionate. It is a joke and a risk in one breath.
He calls himself her Bramin, a wise teacher, and calls her his pupil. When she is ill, he cannot rest until he hears how she is. He claims a friend has the same right to a sickroom as a physician.
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What is The Journal to Eliza about?
It is a diary and set of letters in which Laurence Sterne writes to Elizabeth Draper, whom he calls Eliza, after she leaves England for India. He records his illness, his friends, his house in Yorkshire, and his longing for her return.
Who is Eliza in Sterne's journal?
Eliza is Elizabeth Draper, the wife of an East India Company official. She was in England for her health before sailing back to Bombay. Sterne wrote to her as a close friend and treated her as his pupil and companion.
Who are Yorick and the Bramine?
Yorick is the name Sterne uses for himself. The Bramine, or Bramin, is his pet name for Eliza and for himself as her teacher. The names give the pages a playful and affectionate tone.
The author
Laurence Sterne
1713–1768 · Anglo-Irish novelist and clergyman
Laurence Sterne was an Irish-born English novelist and clergyman whose Tristram Shandy delighted and scandalized eighteenth-century readers with its digressions, jokes, and typographical games — a novel centuries ahead of its time.
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