The love letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett are among the most famous in history. Daniel Karlin's selection, based on a fresh examination of the original manuscripts, provides new insight into the clandestine correspondence which led to their elopement in 1846. These complex and subtle letters, in which they explored each others needs and desires, passions and anxieties, tell the story of how they waited many years to finally elope, overcoming certain obstacles such as the neurotic presence of Elizabeth Barrett's father, and the intense demands they made on one another.