Open Every Door

Mary Mottley, or Mme. Marie de Tocqueville, the English wife of French political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville, seemed to be buried in the dustbins of 19th century French history until Sheila Le Sueur came along. Upon coming to the U.S. from Jersey, where Sheila survived the Nazi Occupation, Sheila was determined to learn everything she could about democracy. Her research eventually brought her to a C-SPAN series about Alexis de Tocqueville based on his classic, Democracy in America. Eventually Sheila learned that Tocqueville was married, but none of the biographers seemed to have much information about his wife, Mary Mottley. Writes Sheila: “Most biographers and Tocqueville analysts delivered the polite message that information about Mary Mottley was not a welcome contribution to the Tocqueville family legacy. Therefore, the less said about her, the better. I was incensed. This seemed to be highly unfair. For some reason, I didn’t believe Alexis’s choice of a lifetime partner was wrong for him. I felt Mary Mottley must have been an admirable person in her own right, and I set about to learn more about her.” A special touch to this extraordinary book about a woman who Sheila learned was indeed a true soulmate for her husband, is a generous sample of Alexis’s letters to Mary, translated from the French by Claudine Martin-Yurth. Alexis’s love letters to Mary confirm without a doubt that the two were true friends, confidantes and kindred spirits.