Immortal Beloved
Walden (2011, p. 5) suggests that Bettina Brentano was Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved", based on the assumption that one of the two spurious letters by Beethoven to her is true: "If that letter to Bettina was genuine, it would prove conclusively that Bettina was the Immortal Beloved, but the original has not survived, and the authenticity is strongly doubted today. ... her reliability and truthfulness are today under a cloud." Meredith (2011, p. xxii), in his "Introduction", has reviewed the debate over the major candidates and he believes that "Walden's proposal merits unbiased consideration".