The Kempton-wace Letters

The Kempton-Wace Letters unfolds as an intimate debate on love, marriage, and the meaning of human life, framed through the correspondence of Dane Kempton and Herbert Wace, with Jack London and Anna Strunsky presenting a work that blends romance, philosophy, and social thought. What begins in warmth and celebration soon turns into a searching argument over whether love is a sacred ideal or a biological necessity, and whether marriage should answer passion, duty, or the demands of modern life. Dane writes with ardent affection, first rejoicing in Herbert's engagement and later protesting his cool, practical view of marriage, fearing that scientific abstraction has drained him of poetic feeling. Herbert replies with humor and candor, describing his academic life, his engagement to Hester, and his belief that love is rooted in evolution, reproduction, and the hard logic of the machine age. As the letters continue, Dane defends love as a universal law that enlarges the soul, while Herbert insists that passion is an inherited impulse shaped by nature. Together, their exchanges create a provocative, deeply personal exploration of friendship, desire, idealism, and the clash between feeling and theory. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.