Mingled Souls

Mingled Souls tells the extraordinary story of a love that

bridged cultural and religious divides. Anchored in

the letters that Dorothy Thigpen and Edmund Shea

exchanged between 1916 and 1920, the narrative recounts how

they survived the perils and separation imposed by World War I,

and how they negotiated the powerful parental disapproval their

match provoked. Dorothy grew up in the Deep South, raised in a

Protestant family with a distinguished heritage, and Edmund was

a young Harvard-educated lawyer from Irish immigrant roots who

grew up in northern Wisconsin. The book is a testament to their

faith that their love could transcend sectarian division. It records

the mystery of two human beings coming to know one another

over great distance and at a moment in history when the world

changed forever.

Some of the letters were bequeathed to author Sheila Harvey Tanzer by

her father, but the others were scattered. They surfaced over many

years, some unearthed from basements, others gathered from farflung

relatives. Tanzer pieces together the letters, recreating the rich

texture of conversation that ultimately kindled a lasting love. Beautifully

contextualized, the narrative is propelled by Dorothy and Edmund’s

increasing insight as they confront the differences in their backgrounds

and forge a new language of shared understanding.