Chapters in this book

1. Prelim pages i
2. Table of contents v
3. Acknowledgements ix
4. 1. Introduction 1
5. 2. The familial backdrop 19
6. 3. ‘Mouths have become hands’ 31
7. 4. Ruling epistolary prose 65
8. 5. Everyday magic verbs 113
9. 6. Utterance, power and politeness 155
10. 7. Sincerity, seriousness and ironic subversions 189
11. 8. Conclusions and future directions 219
12. Bibliography 229
13. Appendix 239
14. Index 263