The essay provides an overview of the correspondence between Anna Freud and Lou Andreas-Salomé. It gives a brief outline of the main topics that are covered in this extensive correspondence and gives examples of the subject matter discussed in the letters, with quotations from some letters.

The friendship of these two remarkable women began at a time when Anna Freud was still undecided about the course of her professional life and Lou Andreas-Salomé was a practicing analyst and contributor to psychoanalytic publications. Their friendship sustained them during many crises, including Sigmund Freud's illness.

Their correspondence, begun in 1919, ended with Lou Andreas - Salomé's death in 1937. It contains 414 letters, postcards, and telegrams—203 from Anna Freud's side of the correspondence. The letters deal with a wide range of topics, from discussions about current periodicals and exchange of information concerning analysands, to descriptions of theater performances and personal problems.