Almost one thousand years ago two people fell in love. Peter Abelard was the tutor of nineteen year old Heloise, and nearly twenty years her senior. It was a torrid affair, Heloise fell pregnant, and her guardian, Abbot Fulbert, plotted a hideous revenge. Abelard was seized and castrated. The lovers responded to this catastrophe by retreating into separate religious orders and seeking peace in the service of God.
Years later a letter from Abelard to a friend falls by chance into Heloises possession. She writes to him and there follows a series of letters that, even today, has the power...