Readers will find the same love of language here that they find everywhere else in Nabokov's writing (Lolita). Even when relaying gossip or discussing mundane business, he wrote con brio. The first letter came less than three months after he met Véra Slonim (1902-91); the last is a poem, penned 53 years later, after 50 years of marriage. Details will be of interest primarily to the student of Nabokov's life (1899-1977), but the arc of this correspondence is clear: profuse, inventive professions of love for Véra; the games and ciphers he included in letter after letter to cheer her up while he was away; drawings for their son, Dmitri; around it all, the business of lives lived apart for too long. Véra destroyed her correspondence and Nabokov only wrote when they were separated so there are gaps of time and content. Still, the epistles show what a treasure the author was: upbeat, reasonable; personally vain but no lover of pomp; an inveterate maker of connections; an acute observer and magical maker of phrases. Scholars will appreciate the thorough editing by Voronina (Russian & director, Russian and Eurasian studies program, Bard Univ.; former deputy director, Nabokov Museum, Russia) and Boyd (English, Univ. of Auckland, Australia; Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years) which helps in reading a text with new names on most pages. VERDICT Nabokov scholars will drool over this book, but there's plenty here of general interest. [See Prepub Alert, 5/17/15.]-David Keymer, Modesto, CA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

It's hard to imagine Vladimir Nabokov spending enough time away from his wife, Vera, to write even a single letter to her, much less a massive collection of them. However, in this authoritative and charming new volume, we learn that early in their marriage, the famed author of Lolita wrote to his wife frequently while traveling. Most of the letters were written between 1923 and 1944, a period that found Vladimir often living in places such as Paris, Brussels, and Prague, while his wife and young son stayed in Berlin or traveled elsewhere. Vera, editor Boyd tell us, did not respond in kind nearly as often (and most of the letters she did write were destroyed), but Vladimir's attachment to his wife, as revealed here, is simply astounding. The letters include drawings for their son, Dmitri; riddles for Vera; and endearments like "my kitty" and "my darling." It's clear that his world revolved around her. In the very first letter, Vladimir writes "I need you, my fairy-tale... you are the only person I can talk with about the shade of a cloud, about the song of a thought." These letters form a touching record of a famous literary marriage and further attest to the great novelist's sheer devotion and erudition. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.