Every Pole knows Wisława Szymborska. We know that she was a poetess, essayist, literary critic, translator, columnist and Nobel laureate in literature in 1996. In 1989 she created the Polish Writer's Association, and in 2011 she was decorated with the Order of the White Eagle.

We can of course read this information in a reference book or biographical notes, but recently, thanks to an amazing book with the unpublished letters of Wisława and the man of her life, we can get to know her from another perspective. She was a typical woman - loving, flirtatious, jealous - who found love at a mature age. Her chosen one was Kornel Filipowicz, a novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and poet. An author of 37 books, he was known mainly as a master of short literary forms.

Though their relationship wasn't typical and they never got married and never lived together, their love was intense and mature. At the time of their separation they wrote letters that were equally as special as their affection. The letters gathered in the book "Your cat has it best in life. The letters..." are funny, moody, romantic and loving. As in every correspondence between a typical couple, we can find both declarations of love and promises about the persistence of affection, stories about friends and family and more mundane information about daily life. Along with the author, we go through the various phases of their relationship. The letters evolve just like their love: from formal and a bit shy to more tender and intimate.

The book can be read all in one go. I felt sometimes while reading the letters, which are subtle and suffused with feeling, that I was peeking into the intimate world of the lovers. I wanted to read, but equally I felt the discomfort of uncovering their secrets. I'm not sure that the authors would like to share with the world their yearnings and endearments as written on the pages of their correspondence.

Various characters whom we know from literature smile out at us from the letters, such as Tadeusz Różewicz, Julian Przyboś, Artur Sandauer and fictional ones devised by the authors of the letters. This is combined with the reflections which accompany me while reading. Every couple has its own private code or intimate language which can be read only by the other half of the apple. It is sometimes difficult for outside readers to catch the nuances of love letters, even with the inclusion of footnotes and explications.

You should read this ordinary but extraordinary correspondence of intellectuals, who can teach us the art of writing letters and the subtle nurturing of affections. Get to know this remarkable couple from a completely different side.

I recommend it!