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Examples of Relationships - Hilaire Belloc and Elodie Hogan

But I would walk 500 miles, And I would walk 500 more - The Proclaimers - I'm gonna be (500 Miles)

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Hilaire Belloc's background

What makes Hilaire Belloc such a great example?

Hilaire Belloc's background

Hilaire Belloc (b.1870) was an Anglo-French writer, and for some years an MP, best known for his Cautionary Verses, but less well known is that aged 19 he fell deeply in love with an American girl, Elodie Hogan, and that the following year he followed her back to America, much to her mother's disapproval. Myth has it that he walked from New York to Californis, to see her, but I believe that in fact he only walked the return leg of the journey. After being sent away, he had to wait until her mother died, after which he eventually managed to convince her that what she really wanted to do was marry him, rather than become a nun. They went on to enjoy 18 years of happy marriage, until her untimely death, after which he was inconsolable. So why was this? Why was he so smitten by her, and for that matter why was he such a good writer?