L'Histoire des malheurs d'Abélard, adressée à un ami is a master work of narration and psychological analysis. This letter is the point of origin of the correspondence between Héloïse and Abélard, which, nearly a millennium on, continues to strike a powerful chord with readers. Between its lines, a dialogue unfolds—on one hand a woman, unwaveringly passionate and bold in the description of her torments, haunted by the act of surrendering herself completely; and on the other, a man of the cloth, whose human passion is long gone, entirely transmuted into a spiritual love to which he seeks to convert Héloïse.
