My Self to You

My Self to You is a collection of letters from Margaret Wise Brown to her on again/ off again lover, Michael Strange (born Blanche Oelrichs).

These touching and, at times, fraught letters provide a deeply personal look into their intertwined affair as it unravels and rebuilds. Strange, the former wife of the actor John Barrymore, gained her own celebrity through the publication of her love poems Resurrecting Life. She also was a playwright and activist in the women's suffrage movement.

Brown, the author of many well-known works for children such as Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. The stunning green-eyed blonde who penned the future of children's literature was as fascinating a character as any pajama-clad talking bunny she created on paper. In these letters,

Margaret's exhilaration and frustrations with their difficult romance are laid bare. Michael's own jealousy of Margaret's success as a writer also plays into the push and pull of their relationship. When Michael is diagnosed with leukemia, she blames the illness on their relationship. Margaret's pleas to reunite before it "is too late" eventually allow the couple to reunite before Michael dies in 1950.